Four Kitchens

April 25, 2011
Food writer and French Culinary Institute graduate travels the globe as an unpaid kitchen apprentice, demystifying everything from haute cuisine at Senderens in Paris to molecular gastronomy at Manhattan's wd-50. In this entertainingly snarky memoir, Shockey chronicles the diffident curiosity of a female chef determined to learn, laugh, and cook in a professional kitchen. "Cooking in restaurants," she writes, "will teach you speed, precision, discipline and hard work. It's like the army: It can be tough, but you come out stronger." Along the way, she eats dog meat in Vietnam, fixes gnocchi in Israel, and cleans crab under a black light in France. Her bosses include such celebrated chefs as Wylie Dufresne and Didier Corlou. But amid the cooking tips, gourmet foods, and exotic techniques, she is driven by a simple question: do diners prefer meals that soothe with flavor or those that surprise with technique? With an insider's perspective shaped by the differing levels of trust and responsibility she earns, Shockey makes a reliable guide, as she illuminates the human elements of friendship and fatigue within the underpaid, unglamorous, and repetitive reality that is restaurant kitchen work.

June 1, 2011

An American woman's transcultural education and discovery that an unpaid culinary apprenticeship is "not just a culinary experience" but "a human experience."

Following employment in a leisurely restaurant in Toulouse, France, Shockey embarked on a personal excursion to practice in several renowned kitchens around the world. From haute cuisine to fusion cooking, and from emphasis on technique to taste, her episodic debut reveals the pride and frustration of learning and mastering innovative as well as classical approaches. In her travels—which included enduring hierarchical, occasionally sexist commentary in New York and Paris, sampling challenging (to her Western palate) fare in Hanoi, or rediscovering casual dining in Tel Aviv—veteran foodies and Top Chef fans will recognize the tedious prepwork and the burden of performing over long hours. Shockey attempts to enliven these familiar topics with anecdotes about her struggles to find relationships in ex-pat communities; the resulting patchwork reinforces the book as the tale of a 20-something in search of direction. The author does not glamorize her travels, candidly noting the awkwardness of financial privilege in Vietnam and half-joking that Parisians are "a clan of snobbish people." Shockey avoids esoteric, gastronomical musings or in-depth coverage of each city's history and offerings, but she provides convincing evidence that immersion can be the fastest, most effective route to learning. As she remarks at several points, culinary school did not prepare her for what she encountered. Realizing that few chefs actually spend time behind the burner and that the role is often managerial created disappointment, but led to the rewarding affirmation that home-cooking is a passionate, inspiring, valid outlet. Each section includes recipes, many of which translate to the average kitchen.

Cooking for clientele and friends alike, Shockey highlights the importance of hands-on, communal involvement—food as nourishment with "soul" rather than high artistry.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2011

Shockey trained at the French Culinary Institute. Then she got out into the real world of restaurants and found she had more to learn, so she decided to apprentice at four upscale restaurants worldwide. With more and more chef memoirs appearing and everyone into food, this could, um, catch fire. And it's being pitched to the Eat Pray Love crowd.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2011
Wall Street Journal and Village Voice food writer Shockey details her experiences as a 25-year-old stagiare (unpaid apprentice) in four different restaurants across the globe. Beginning the year at Wylie Dufresne's bastion of experimental molecular gastronomy, WD-50, in New York, her hometown, she moved to more traditional, regional fare in Hanoi, Tel Aviv, and Paris. Working her way through the weeds of professional kitchen work (e.g., long hours of mincing shallots and shelling crabs), she had plenty to overcome, including her small stature, rookie status, and gender in largely male milieus. Rich descriptions of coworkers and locales accompany her main theme of struggle and growth, and recipes inspired by items on the menus of the restaurants she worked in further enhance it. The latter, adapted for the home cook, are technically suited to nonprofessionals and range from useful (traditional Israeli hummus) to ridiculous (Doritos consomm'). Just as her talent and skill earned Shockey respect in the kitchens in which she worked, her unique memoir will garner her favor in the world of food writing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)