Yes Chef delivered everything I hoped it would. Marcus tells his story in an honest and humble tone from beginning to end. My copy of this book is covered in little post it arrows where I marked how he prepared truffles (you add them to the sauce at the very end so as not to cook all the flavor out), and his Spanish breakfast (ripe tomatoes peeled and then crushed on toast adding a grind or two of black pepper), and how to make a lobster lasagna. When curing duck breasts Marcus would soak then in a large pan of salted water with a plate weighing them down for 6 hours.

Mouth watering yet?

And in between pages of mixing seasonings and different flavors is Marcus' story. Growing up and moving out... restaurant experiences that are detailed from where he got it right, and from when he should have been fired and by grace he was not. And then into Marcus' life as the one doing the firing and trying to find kitchen held that understood the demands of a kitchen, one employee even telling him,

"You can ask me to be on time, iron my shirt, shave or not to wear sneakers, but you can't ask them all of me... it's too much."
~Page 309 Yes CHEF

Yes Chef was interesting and a fun book to read that I will refer to again and again. Marcus is a true story of battling against the odds, fighting prejudices and coming out on top. His tips on food throughout the book are things I want to try, things I would have never considered, but when I read Yes CHEF, I felt inspired.

Highly recommended to lovers of memoirs, cooking related books and success stories... I loved this book.