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A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat
Gotham
March 2011
On Sale: March 3, 2011
400 pages ISBN: 1592406017 EAN: 9781592406012 Hardcover
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In 2007, chef Grant Achatz seemingly had it made. He had
been named one of the best new chefs in America by Food &
Wine in 2002, received the James Beard Foundation Rising
Star Chef of the Year Award in 2003, and in 2005 he and Nick
Kokonas opened the conceptually radical restaurant Alinea,
which was named Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet
magazine. Then, positioned firmly in the world's culinary
spotlight, Achatz was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell
carcinoma-tongue cancer. The prognosis was grim, and doctors agreed the only course
of action was to remove the cancerous tissue, which included
his entire tongue. Desperate to preserve his quality of
life, Grant undertook an alternative treatment of aggressive
chemotherapy and radiation. But the choice came at a cost.
Skin peeled from the inside of Grant's mouth and throat, he
rapidly lost weight, and most alarmingly, he lost his sense
of taste. Tapping into the discipline, passion, and focus of
being a chef, Grant rarely missed a day of work. He trained
his chefs to mimic his palate and learned how to cook with
his other senses. As Kokonas was able to attest: The food
was never better. Five months later, Grant was declared
cancer-free, and just a few months following, he received
the James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef in America Award. Life, on the Line tells the story of a culinary
trailblazer's love affair with cooking, but it is also a
book about survival, about nurturing creativity, and about
profound friendship. Already much- anticipated by followers
of progressive cuisine, Grant and Nick's gripping narrative
is filled with stories from the world's most renowned
kitchens-The French Laundry, Charlie Trotter's, el Bulli-
and sure to expand the audience that made Alinea the
number-one selling restaurant cookbook in America last year.
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