My Mother's Kitchen

March 6, 2017
Part memoir, part cookbook, Gethers’s (The Cat Who Went to Paris) latest is a warm tribute to his mother, Judy Gethers, and their shared love of food. Her life had several acts, but the most notable started when she was 53 and began working at L.A.’s famed Ma Maison for no money. “You’ll basically be our slave,” owner Patrick Terrail said to her, “but after a year you’ll be a real French cook.” She did and then she was, going on to work at Spago, running Ma Cuisine cooking school, and writing or cowriting six cookbooks. Gethers’s describes the process of preparing some of his mother’s favorite foods, divided into three meals that trace the trajectory of her long life. Among the foods are the Matzo Brei from Ratner’s, her family’s famous restaurant; salmon oulibiac, the first dish Wolfgang Puck taught her to make; and the chocolate pudding of Peter’s childhood. Gethers gets a little bogged down toward the end by his mother’s late-life crises and miraculous recoveries, but that is a small hiccup in a funny, irreverent, and joyous testament to a remarkable life.

February 1, 2017
A celebration of food connects a mother and son.In an exuberant and entertaining memoir, novelist, screenwriter, playwright, editor, and producer Gethers (Ask Bob, 2013, etc.) pays homage to his mother, an accomplished cook, and to the amazing food they both loved. His goal in writing, he says, "was to cook with my mom, to share the breakfast and lunch menus with her as I went along, and to become proficient enough in the kitchen so I could make the dinner of her dreams." His mother died before he could make that dinner, but the author includes recipes for her favorite dishes along with a running commentary of his occasionally bumbling efforts to cook some complicated gourmet dishes invented by chefs that his mother admired: Joel Robuchon's mashed potatoes, for example, Yotam Ottolenghi's quail, and Wolfgang Puck's salmon coulibiac. Judy Gethers committed fully to cooking at age 53, honing her skills at the esteemed Los Angeles restaurant Ma Maison, where Puck reigned. Cooking, the author writes, "quickly became an all-consuming passion, and her life soon revolved around creme caramels and salmon mousse and various foods en croute." Although devoted to her warm and supportive husband and their two grown sons, she also found in the restaurant "a new family" among the staff (Puck became a beloved friend) and "a new kind of exhilaration." She redefined herself through cooking and reveled in her accomplishments. Inspired by his mother's new passion, Gethers edited cookbooks and produced food-related TV shows; he also began to cook, taking on some daunting challenges. When he first read the multistep recipe for salmon coulibiac, he admits he felt "borderline hysterical," but he managed to produce a dish that was, he writes proudly, "a work of art"--but not as amazing as what his mother would have made. "My mother's food," he exults, "has always been exactly like my mother: appealing, comforting, genuine, unpretentious, at times whimsical, always elegant." A loving family portrait and a treat for foodies.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2017

Most people think their mother is special, but not many of us have a mother who starts a new career at age 53 and quickly becomes a world-famous chef and cooking teacher at Ma Maison, hobnobbing with Wolfgang Puck and Julia Child. This new memoir and paean to his mother is the work of Gethers (The Cat Who Went to Paris). His father was a Hollywood writer and producer, while his mother's family founded Ratner's deli in New York, which operated from 1905 to 2004. With this kind of background, there is no dearth of material. The book is loosely structured around a series of his mother's favorite dishes that he attempts to re-create for her before her death at age 93. Personal and family stories are interspersed with his tribulations of trying to prepare these often-complicated recipes to his mothers' still gourmet standards. All of this makes for a very funny as well as moving tribute. VERDICT A well-written and engaging memoir, particularly for foodies. Also a great primer on second acts and living (and dying) well.--Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017
Author Gethers' mother Judy is a culinary legend, known for befriending and mentoring many top chefs and restaurateurs over several decades. Following his mother's miraculous recovery from a massive stroke in her late eighties, Gethers (Ask Bob, 2013) attempts to discover her perfect menu for a full day and then makes those dishes for her unwaveringly critical tastes. Along the way, he bonds with his mother more deeply, exploring the many memories that make these dishes so special for her. The book is filled with cameos from celebrity chefs (even Julia Child!) who adored the famous Judy Gethers, a woman who got a second lease on life at age 53 when she took her first job at the trendiest restaurant in L.A. alongside a new, young chef named Wolfgang Puck. This book is a wonderful tribute to family, food, travel, and spirit, complete with recipes for each dish on Gethers' perfect menu. Readers will leave feeling deeply connected to Gethers' legendary mom, not to mention hungry for good foodand a good life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)