Don't Try This At Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs
by Andrew Friedman
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 145)
Read in November, 2007
I'll admit that though I'm a very good cook, and with my partner own somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 cookbooks, I don't own cookbooks by any of the chefs represented in this collection. I have nothing against them, but I've never heard of most of them. This means that I read the anthology without a picture of anyone (except Anthony Bourdain) or any orienting knowledge of them. Not a Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Marian Burros, Mark Bittman, or Nigella Lawson in sight.
The 41 authors vary ...more
The 41 authors vary ...more
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Read in January, 2008
Food is fast becoming entertainment, so it’s only natural that it should follow in the footsteps of sports and show business and offer up a collection of bloopers. Literary agent Witherspoon and food writer Friedman corralled 40 gastronomic heavyweights to share their versions of dinners gone wrong. The highlight is, unsurprisingly, the piece by chef and bestselling author Anthony Bourdain. His “New Year’s Meltdown” is a case study in what happens when you don’t plan (Bourdain admits, “Nobody likes a ‘learning experience’—translating as it does to ‘a total [a**-f******]’—but I learned”). Mario Batali’s “The Last Straw,” though not relating a culinary catastrophe per se, is runnerup: Batali was in culinary school when he clashed with a chef; in a spectacular crescendo, the chef hurled a pan of risotto at the young student, but revenge was sweet. But for every fantastic screwup, there’s a dud. The translated pieces (such as the one by Spanish titan Ferrán Adrià) fail to captivate, and others, like Jimmy Bradley’s tale about how he got drunk on the job to spite his boss, are neither entertaining nor instructive. Still, this collection happily reminds us that even big shots have off days.
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It was three weeks after the opening of a place I was sous chef at.After yet another crazy night of firing interns,new equipment not working right,and almost running out of fire wood,the owner pulled myself and the Chef de Cuisine aside after service."You know what boys,someday this will all seem funny"
This book is a compilation of stories by famous chefs about worst case scenarios,bizarre happenings and funny events.Anyone that's spent time in a kitchen can relate.Some of these tale...more
This book is a compilation of stories by famous chefs about worst case scenarios,bizarre happenings and funny events.Anyone that's spent time in a kitchen can relate.Some of these tale...more
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Don't try *what* at home? Acting like a pompous chef who knows it all? The book is a series of anecdotes where the occasional one sets fire to the entree and brilliantly converts into a dish he gets praised for. The other anecdotes are tedious. I only finished the book, months after starting it, because I was in a long bank queue and I'd read all the mortgage-loan-credit card literature and it was all I had. Yep, that boring.
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Read in June, 2008
I thought this would be such a great book. I guess I was thinking it would be more like Top Chef--but it wasn't. A couple of the chefs chapters were really dull and it wasn't very interesting. If you are looking for a glimpse into a chef's world--check out Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. I don't really like the guy--but the book was pretty good.
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Michele by:
people who like to eat
This is very insightful into the world of professional chefs. They all found it necessary to do time in France. They're all nuts. They're all perfectionists. Without them, we would starve, or at least be far less fulfilled when it comes to dinnertime. All hail those who toil in the heat of the kitchen for our pleasure.
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Read in December, 2007
Entertaining reading about mishaps and missteps in some of the world's top kitchens. The writing is adequate, but this is really something you read for the content, not the construction. If you're a foodie, though, you'll probably be amused by many of the stories--and maybe get an idea or two for dinner.
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Read in May, 2008
Not nearly as good as the second collection ("How I Learned to Cook") but as in any essay collection, there are gems. The best stories are those that don't offer tips, or talk about the laundry list of catastrophes they've experienced in their lengthy and fabulous careers.
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
food fans
Some of these stories are hysterical. I love Eric Ripert's, "You Really Ought to Think About Becoming a Waiter."
Still only halfway through this one. It's uneven, as you'd expect with multiple contributing authors, but most of these are pretty amusing.
Still only halfway through this one. It's uneven, as you'd expect with multiple contributing authors, but most of these are pretty amusing.
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Another birthday gift from my son and daughter-in-law. This one was great for traveling because each chef's contribution was only a few pages. Occasionally I daydream about becoming a chef. I need to read things like this to bring me back to reality.
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Read in June, 2008
It's funny how all the macho man chef's in here don't actually have any crises or catastrophes that they're to blame for, they only have the bad luck to be on the receiving end of them. Wish more people had named names too! Just b/c I am nosy.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
restaurant survivors
amusing stories from well-known chefs and culinary personalities of the crazy things that go on behind the scenes (most of which you have seen if you ever worked in a restaurant in NYC)
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
Not a bad fun read...especially if you are a big fan of celebrity cooking shows. Lots of chefs that I'm not familiar with but still got a kick of their humorous "worst" moments.
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Read in June, 2008
There were a few interesting stories in here, but I had troubling relating to these amazing chefs making foods so expensive I've never even heard of them. Mmm, foods.
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I ran out of books on a beach vacation and was forced to borrow from partner's reading pile. Mostly boring and often painfully badly written.
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A fun, easy read... especially entertaining since I just "graduated" from culinary school and worked (briefly) in a restaurant!
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Fun, quick, and easy-to-read essays about professional chefs looking not-so-professional. Good for a chuckle or two.
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Pretty good. Very funny. I am a bit disappointed at the relatively small "catastrophes" in many of the stories.
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Awesome chefs and celebrity chefs screw up too. It's refreshing to see some of them humbled by their mistakes
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funny short "stories" from chefs and mistakes they made when they were first starting out.
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