Scars of a Chef

February 14, 2011
Chef and cookbook author Tramonto (Steak with Friends) has won acclaim for his restaurants and cookbooks, and in this memoir he takes readers into the kitchen to show them a chef's life. It ain't pretty, but it is edifying. As he was growing up in a volatile working-class family in Rochester, N.Y., Tramonto's dad was jailed for embezzlement, and young Rick, struggling with a learning disability, left high school in 1977 for his first culinary job, at Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. He paid dues all along the way, working with terrifically talented and not a few temperamental chefs, succeeding (earning four-star reviews) and failing (losing a restaurant to fire, divorcing his culinary partner and wife, Gale Gand). As he narrates it, only when he hears a Christian radio broadcast one dark day in his car does he begin to find a way out. Tramonto and his co-writer favor speed over detail and successfully convey how driven and intensely focused the author's career has been. Anyone with a romantic view of the restaurant business should read this mea culpa and redemption tale.

February 15, 2011

Chef and cookbook author Tramonto (Steak with Friends) writes about the ups and downs of his life that have culminated in a career as a famous chef. As a teenager dealing with family problems and dyslexia, he dropped out of high school and began his career at Wendy's--an experience that led him to his calling. He graduated to another restaurant, Scotch 'N Sirloin, in Rochester, NY, and learned much along the way before his moves to New York City, Chicago, and Europe. With his first wife, pastry chef Gale Gand, he climbed the culinary ladder, opening restaurants (Chicago's Tru and others), writing cookbooks, and appearing on TV. Tramonto also writes about how his religious beliefs carried him through. Recipes (not seen) end each chapter. VERDICT Recommended for memoir readers who appreciate amazing stories of dedicated workers who succeed despite the odds.--Barb Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO

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