Talking with My Mouth Full

January 16, 2012
In this entertaining memoir, Simmons, a judge on the reality television series Top Chef chronicles her early love of eating and how her passion became a professional calling, landing her in the center of America’s obsession with all things food. Following graduation from Montreal’s McGill University and unsure about her future, Simmons headed home to Toronto. Securing a newspaper job, she pushed to write food stories. Her editor offered her important advice. “You need a point of view, a way to differentiate yourself. Forget about writing for a while. Go learn how to cook and how to eat.” She attended culinary school, then worked at Le Cirque. Moving on, she landed a job as assistant to Vogue’s food editor, a glamorous and messy position: “To this day, I’m sure I’m the only person ever to attend a Vogue meeting with Anna Wintour with goose fat running down my Old Navy T-shirt and onto my Levi’s.” Simmons reveals the complex backstage choreography unfolding nightly in top flight restaurants and rewards readers with glimpses of the eye-popping Aspen Food & Wine Classic. The author candidly deconstructs the world of reality television and the phenomenon of Top Chef.

January 1, 2012
From the popular judge and host of Top Chef, a memoir of a life devoted to the romance of food and the business of restaurants. To her credit, Simmons notes that she has led a fortunate life, in which her career "coincided, serendipitously, with a widespread boom in enthusiasm about the culinary world." The author grew up as the child of South African and Canadian Jewish parents in Montreal, circumstances which instilled in her a cultural curiosity and desire to travel. Uncertain how to build a career as a food writer, Simmons began with local lifestyle magazines, and soon moved to New York, where she took the unusual step of attending cooking school, then worked briefly on the lines at renowned restaurants Le Cirque 2000 and Vong (which gave her authority later in the media world). She received fortuitous boosts from luminaries like Daniel Boulud and Jeffrey Steingarten, culminating in positions at Food & Wine, which led to her selection by Bravo for Top Chef. The show quickly became popular, as did the spin-off Just Desserts, which she hosts (an experience she describes as surprising in its challenges and 14-hour days). Simmons describes the shows in terms that are specific about the complexities and stress of their production, but not hugely revelatory otherwise--e.g., "On Top Chef, we typically only see chefs on their best behavior." Although each chapter opens with an evocative description of food or a meal, her writing is straightforward and relaxed. Many famous chefs make appearances, but readers looking for dirt or sensuous flights of foodie detail will be disappointed, and the chapters that focus on Simmons recent personal life are less engaging. The book is most appealing as a professional overview of the dining industry's explosive growth and public profile during the last decade, even during the recession. Some readers may wish the prose had a little more grit or character, but the book will surely appeal to Simmons' many fans.

(COPYRIGHT (2012) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012
Chef, author, and television Food Network personality Simmons recounts her life. Toronto-born before becoming a dedicated New Yorker, she had a unique upbringing in a family that valued the pleasures of good food. One of the aspects of her youth that sets Simmons apart is her deep attraction to South African food, developed on family visits to relatives there. She fell in love with dried meat strips (beef, chicken, antelope, and ostrich), which she recalls with great sensory detail. She also spent time in Spain and on an Israeli kibbutz. Returning to North America, Simmons enrolled in culinary school and labored in Le Cirque's illustrious kitchens. Equal to her passion for cooking, her love for writing led to a career in food journalism, and she became an editor at a food magazine. In an emotionally affecting sketch, she reflects on the devastation wrought by her beloved elder brother's mental illness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)