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Heat
- An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
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Publisher's summary
From one of our most interesting literary figures - former editor of Granta, former fiction editor at The New Yorker, acclaimed author of Among the Thugs - a sharp, funny, exuberant, close-up account of his headlong plunge into the life of a professional cook.
Expanding on his James Beard Award-winning New Yorker article, Bill Buford gives us a richly evocative chronicle of his experience as “slave” to Mario Batali in the kitchen of Batali’s three-star New York restaurant, Babbo.
In a fast-paced, candid narrative, Buford describes three frenetic years of trials and errors, disappointments and triumphs, as he worked his way up the Babbo ladder from “kitchen bitch” to line cook...his relationship with the larger-than-life Batali, whose story he learns as their friendship grows through (and sometimes despite) kitchen encounters and after-work all-nighters...and his immersion in the arts of butchery in Northern Italy, of preparing game in London, and making handmade pasta at an Italian hillside trattoria.
Heat is a marvelous hybrid: a memoir of Buford’s kitchen adventure, the story of Batali’s amazing rise to culinary (and extra-culinary) fame, a dazzling behind-the-scenes look at a famous restaurant, and an illuminating exploration of why food matters. It is a book to delight in, and to savor.
Critic reviews
A Globe & Mail Best Book of 2006
A New York Times Notable Book of 2006
“Sharing Buford’s table talk is a pleasure not to be passed up.” (Michael Redhill, The Globe and Mail)
“A dazzling and funny account of two magnificently mad years.” (The Guardian)
“[Buford] excels at vibrantly colourful descriptive writing. . . . What shines through is the story of Bill Buford falling in love with food, and his passionate journey of learning.” (Vancouver Sun)
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The Kitchen Counter Cooking School
- How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks
- By: Kathleen Flinn
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.
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Just as much a self-help book as a cookbook.
- By J. Locke on 03-07-13
By: Kathleen Flinn
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Lunch in Paris
- A Love Story, with Recipes
- By: Elizabeth Bard
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman - and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak's pink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce? Lunch in Paris is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs - one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine.
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ok to pass the time
- By Robin on 03-25-13
By: Elizabeth Bard
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Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll
- How Food Lovers, Free Spirits, Misfits and Wanderers Created a New American Profession
- By: Andrew Friedman
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll transports listeners back in time to witness the remarkable evolution of the American restaurant chef in the 1970s and 1980s. Andrew Friedman goes inside Chez Panisse and other Bay Area restaurants to show how the politically charged backdrop of Berkeley helped spark this new profession; into the historically underrated community of Los Angeles chefs, including a young Wolfgang Puck; and into the clash of cultures between established French chefs in New York City and the American game changers.
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the reader makes the audiobook - unfortunately
- By Lawrie Thicke on 04-20-19
By: Andrew Friedman
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Provence, 1970
- M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste
- By: Luke Barr
- Narrated by: John Rubinstein
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery.
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Superb Narration, Engrossing Tale
- By Robert R. on 10-22-13
By: Luke Barr
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Cooking as Fast as I Can
- A Chef’s Story of Family, Food, and Forgiveness
- By: Cat Cora
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In Cooking as Fast as I Can, Cat Cora reveals, for the first time, coming-of-age experiences from early childhood sexual abuse to the realities of life as a lesbian in the Deep South. She shares how she found her passion in the kitchen and went on to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and apprentice under Michelin-star chefs in France. After her big break as a cohost on the Food Network's Melting Pot, Cat broke barriers by becoming the first-ever female Iron Chef.
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Great listen for a chef
- By Nikki on 04-10-24
By: Cat Cora
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The Story of Sushi
- An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice
- By: Trevor Corson
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Trevor Corson takes us behind the scenes at America's first sushi-chef training academy, as eager novices strive to master the elusive art of cooking without cooking. He delves into the biology and natural history of the edible creatures of the sea, and tells the fascinating story of an Indo-Chinese meal reinvented in 19th-century Tokyo as a cheap fast food.
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Lame, Lame, Lame
- By hermanous on 10-02-10
By: Trevor Corson
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Rice, Noodle, Fish
- Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture (Roads & Kingdoms Presents, Book 1)
- By: Matt Goulding
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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An innovative new take on the travel guide, Rice, Noodle, Fish decodes Japan's extraordinary food culture through a mix of in-depth narrative and insider advice. In this 5,000-mile journey through the noodle shops, tempura temples, and teahouses of Japan, Matt Goulding, cocreator of the enormously popular Eat This, Not That! book series, navigates the intersection between food, history, and culture, creating one of the most ambitious and complete books ever written about Japanese culinary culture from the Western perspective.
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Starts strong tapers off
- By Craig Bryan on 01-02-21
By: Matt Goulding
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Hotbox
- Inside Catering, the Food World's Riskiest Business
- By: Matt Lee, Ted Lee
- Narrated by: Matt Lee, Ted Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Matt Lee and Ted Lee take on the competitive, wild world of high-end catering, exposing the secrets of a food business few home cooks or restaurant chefs ever experience.
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Needs to be a series!
- By Sallyterra on 04-27-19
By: Matt Lee, and others
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The Way Life Should Be
- A Novel
- By: Christina Baker Kline
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Angela can feel the clock ticking. She is single in New York City, stuck in a job she doesn't want and a life that seems to have somehow just happened. She inherited a flair for Italian cooking from her grandmother, but she never seems to have the time for it - these days, her oven holds only sweaters. Tacked to her office bulletin board is a photo from a magazine of a tidy cottage on the coast of Maine - a charming reminder of a life that could be hers if she could only muster the courage to go after it.
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Simple story
- By Dianna Bogart on 06-09-15
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JGV
- A Life in 12 Recipes
- By: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Michael Ruhlman
- Narrated by: Eric Yves Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From his first apprenticeship in France to his Michelin-starred restaurant empire, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s cuisine is inspired by the freshest ingredients, the simplest techniques, and the drive to make the ordinary perfect. It all started at home. JGV is an invitation into the kitchen with a master chef. With humor and heart, Jean-Georges looks back on success and failure, sharing stories of cooking with legendary chefs Paul Bocuse and Louis Outhier, traveling in search of new and revelatory flavors, and building menus of his own.
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Informative and fun!
- By David Stuk on 11-24-22
By: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and others
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Life, on the Line
- A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat
- By: Grant Achatz, Nick Kokonas
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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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, Achatz was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma - tongue cancer.
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A Tasteless World?
- By Exec. Chef 'Special K' on 03-18-14
By: Grant Achatz, and others
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Non non non!
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Riveting
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The Making of a Chef
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Ruhlman propels himself and his readers through a score of kitchens and classrooms, from Asian and American regional cuisines to lunch cookery and even table waiting, in search of the elusive, unnamable elements of great cooking.
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Interesting subject, terrible presentation.
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Cork Dork
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Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn’t know much about wine - until she discovered an alternate universe where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork”.
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Interesting but not educational
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The Devil in the Kitchen
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In The Devil in the Kitchen, White tells the story behind his ascent from working-class roots to culinary greatness, leaving no dish unserved as he relays raucous and revealing tales featuring some of the biggest names in the food world and beyond, including: Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc, Michael Caine, Damien Hirst, and even Prince Charles.
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A chef / restaurateur must.
- By Brandon on 07-18-16
By: Marco Pierre White, and others
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Cooked
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In Cooked, Pollan discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements.
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A bit bland
- By Mark on 12-12-14
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Dirt
- Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking
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- Narrated by: Bill Buford
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
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What does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and pack up and (with a wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France.
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Non non non!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-19-20
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They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities. Now, Bill Buford, editor of the prestigious journal Granta, enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure.
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Riveting
- By Matthew & Nina iles on 10-22-19
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The Making of a Chef
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Interesting subject, terrible presentation.
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Cork Dork
- A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste
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Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn’t know much about wine - until she discovered an alternate universe where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork”.
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Interesting but not educational
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The Devil in the Kitchen
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In The Devil in the Kitchen, White tells the story behind his ascent from working-class roots to culinary greatness, leaving no dish unserved as he relays raucous and revealing tales featuring some of the biggest names in the food world and beyond, including: Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc, Michael Caine, Damien Hirst, and even Prince Charles.
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A chef / restaurateur must.
- By Brandon on 07-18-16
By: Marco Pierre White, and others
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Cooked
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A bit bland
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The Apprentice
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In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain. The Apprentice is the poignant and sometimes funny tale of a boy's coming of age. Beyond that, it is the story of America's culinary awakening and the transformation of food from an afterthought to a national preoccupation.
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Jacques Pépin never has disappointed
- By Peter on 10-03-20
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My Life in France
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This memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia Child embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.
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What a pleasure!
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Heat
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From one of our most interesting literary figures, former editor of Granta, former fiction editor at The New Yorker, acclaimed author of Among the Thugs, a sharp, funny, exuberant, close-up account of his headlong plunge into the life of a professional cook.
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Poor reader
- By John on 06-26-06
By: Bill Buford
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Taste
- My Life Through Food
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Stanley Tucci grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the kitchen table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the savory recipes and into the compelling stories behind them. Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about his growing up in Westchester, New York.
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Should include a pdf of recipes
- By Jen Griffin on 10-23-21
By: Stanley Tucci
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Medium Raw
- A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
- By: Anthony Bourdain
- Narrated by: Anthony Bourdain
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the 10 years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business and for Anthony Bourdain. Medium Raw explores those changes, tracking Bourdain's strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood. Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he's seen.
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Surprisingly tender.
- By Sparkly on 10-09-12
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A Waiter in Paris
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Performance
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A waiter's job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of that door . . . is hell. Edward Chisholm's spellbinding memoir of his time as a Parisian waiter takes you beneath the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world—and right into its glorious underbelly.
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Wonderful read
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What listeners say about Heat
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- paddymid
- 08-06-18
Delightful!
The subtitle sort of says it all. Buford's book is as much about him as it is about his subjects, and that's just fine by me. He never takes himself too seriously and gives us a funny, clever, and deeply informative journey into the world of Tuscan food. Everything can seem a bit outlandish and larger than life at times, but he always saves things from veering over the top with his intelligence and warmth. It's about the food, yes. But it's also a deeply genuine and human book. For all the fuss about the culinary superstars at the heart of his story, Buford's book is just as much about the anonymous supporting cast members that he connects with: the dishwashers, line cooks, mentors, neighbors, and so on. And his serious explorations of the history of Tuscan cuisine are terrific digressions from his main story, and they support and enhance his personal journey.
The portion of his book set in Italy was my favorite. I had just returned from Tuscany (including a visit to Dario Cecchini's butcher shop and restaurant) when I read this, and Buford's writing rang very true to me. He has a fine sense of the place and its food, and his warmth for the people is evident. Reading these passages took me right back to Tuscany!
Great narration from Michael Kramer.
Strongly recommended.
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- A consumer from your target market
- 08-30-20
Enjoyed the book immensely. Hated to finish!
Loved the telling, the historical references, the cooking details, and the humor. Narration was very good except for a few mispronunciations of foreign words, but I prefer to hear the author's voice reading the words. I've already listened to (and loved) "Dirt", and still, I'm looking forward to more from Bill Buford.
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- A Butterfield
- 12-21-22
A wonderful, informative, entertaining journey.
The story is amazing. The Narrators absolutely made this so incredibly listenable, that it's become a favorite to relisten to.
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Overall
- sjames
- 10-14-06
just okay
This book is just okay. It tended to move a little slowly. It is a lot of kitchen talk about the behind the scenes workings of a restaurant which is is interesting for a few hours, but not for 12 hours. It's is probably great for those who are really interested in the restaurant business or are really into food.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Larbi
- 04-01-08
well-read interesting book
I very much enjoyed Buford's book and the reading was pleasant and easy to follow. I was a little puzzled at how much the book focused on Mario Batali, but I enjoyed hearing about his restaurants, his management style, and the insights into other famous chefs cooking elsewhere in the world today. Back when I started travelling, everyone ate at fairly traditional restaurants with steaks and chicken and pretty blah side dishes. Now it's a global adventure and we can eat the excellent meals to which my generation was woken up by visits to Italy, France and THailand and even countries like the UK (which was world reknowned for having the worst food in the civilized world) have sophisticated cuisines well worth trying. We even great great food in the US with origins in many different countries--thanks to all these foodies who travel and bring back great ideas and great skills.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rulo b.
- 01-21-17
amazing book
such an amazing book its one man's quest to discover what Italian cooking really is
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- Pablo
- 04-10-18
Interesting in the food, lacking story and structure
I really liked the Italy section and the babo section, but it feels like a small story over extended and boring at some points. At the end it would be nice to know the final results of the whole transformation, not just “I just want to be a cook”.
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- Suea
- 10-12-14
This writer really put his "back" into this work
Would you consider the audio edition of Heat to be better than the print version?
Loved the vocal inflexions of the reader so, yeah, audible has got to be way better.
What did you like best about this story?
Authenticity. It's one thing to write about something as an observer or a critic but it is another to write about an experience over time while starting as a novice working your way to pro. This writer left no stone unturned. He has my respect and best wishes to now start a cooking journey in France. Good luck with that one. Especially learning French. Might as well learn all the insults first - Chapter 10 of my French book - that way at least you'll know what they're saying most of the time.
Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer – was your favorite?
The author who was reading the book as himself and seeing all the real-life characters up close and personal. Michael Kramer read it so well that I now associate his voice with the author himself. A close second is the Italian butcher Darius because he knew good meat and where to get it and handled customers the way I would have liked to. Have some humility - it goes far when you're learning for a lifetime which cooking requires.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. I felt I was working in the kitchen, too. I had to split it up. It was very intense for me having been a culinary student for one year myself and experiencing the long intense hours and the often not-so-nice personalities that get into positions of power. I recall being criticized by one of those self-important types when I suggested putting cinnamon and a pinch of sugar in tomato sauce (my Italian grandmother's teaching). She gave me a "B" and my lab partner an "A" just to show me who was boss. There's a lot of ignorant people who call themselves "chef." She was known for not being able to cook.
Any additional comments?
If you think you want to be a chef or experience what the journey is really like, listen to this book. If you still want to do it and have the physical strength and stamina to match your desire, by all means, take the plunge. I loved it and use the knowledge every day of my life though I chose not to continue to work in restaurants. I had a B&B for 5 years and that was enough for me of cooking for other people - especially those with wierd diets or those who think they know what good food is but don't have a clue. Let them eat cereal or non-fat yogurt for breakfast! I'm just happy to cook good food for myself and my friends and family who appreciate what I do. I also record my recipes and techniques for posterity. Note the attitude of the butcher, Darius. I'm with him.
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- Benjamin
- 04-05-17
Great book on the history of Italiano life
This book has many different levels of showing what the restaurant life is like and the origins of Italian foods and life styles. I really enjoyed the depth the story go into as well as the recipes used and their descriptions. Any chef or cook working in an Italian restaurant should check out this book.
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- Elisacac
- 11-16-15
How did we wind up here??
This is a story about how a New York author who, probably supported his wife, doesn't really work, and travels back and forth to Italy. Mario Batali is mentioned slightly more often than Marco Pierre White and while he does hold a position in the kitchen, in the end, all the author really wants to be is an author. Mario offers to open a restaurant for him and he turns it down. No doubt he really has "so much more to learn, to bring his concepts to their fullest."
As far as the reader goes, at any given time I am waiting for him to finish every sentence with "Ya see... Ya Ya....." Like an old mobster from the 20's. The story line has you in a kitchen one minute then seconds later you are in Italy and you wonder how the hell you got there. Very jerky jerky. Aside from those two things, it was just an Okay story.
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3 people found this helpful