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Yes, Chef  By  cover art

Yes, Chef

By: Marcus Samuelsson
Narrated by: Marcus Samuelsson
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Publisher's summary

JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY VOGUE • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“One of the great culinary stories of our time.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.

Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister—all battling tuberculosis—walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Göteborg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus’s new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up.

Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of “chasing flavors,” as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fufilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home.

With disarming honesty and intimacy, Samuelsson also opens up about his failures—the price of ambition, in human terms—and recounts his emotional journey, as a grown man, to meet the father he never knew. Yes, Chef is a tale of personal discovery, unshakable determination, and the passionate, playful pursuit of flavors—one man’s struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen, and in the world.

Praise for Yes, Chef

“Such an interesting life, told with touching modesty and remarkable candor.”—Ruth Reichl

“Marcus Samuelsson has an incomparable story, a quiet bravery, and a lyrical and discreetly glittering style—in the kitchen and on the page. I liked this book so very, very much.”—Gabrielle Hamilton

“Plenty of celebrity chefs have a compelling story to tell, but none of them can top [this] one.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Red Rooster’s arrival in Harlem brought with it a chef who has reinvigorated and reimagined what it means to be American. In his famed dishes, and now in this memoir, Marcus Samuelsson tells a story that reaches past racial and national divides to the foundations of family, hope, and downright good food.”—President Bill Clinton

©2012 Marcus Samuelsson (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The Red Rooster's arrival in Harlem brought with it a chef who has reinvigorated and reimagined what it means to be American. In his famed dishes, and now in this memoir, Marcus Samuelsson tells a story that reaches past racial and national divides to the foundations of family, hope, and downright good food." (President Bill Clinton)

"I've read a lot of chefs' books, but never anything like this one. Marcus Samuelsson has had such an interesting life, and he talks about it with touching modesty and remarkable candor. I couldn't put this book down." (Ruth Reichl, best-selling author of Tender at the Bone)

"Marcus Samuelsson has an incomparable story, a quiet bravery, and a lyrical and discreetly glittering style - in the kitchen and on the page. I liked this book so very, very much." (Gabrielle Hamilton, best-selling author of Blood, Bones, & Butter)

Featured Article: Hungry for Inspiration? Here Are the Best Listens for Foodies


Food offers more than just sustenance: it’s a way to connect with others, to fine-tune a skillset, and to savor some of life’s simplest pleasures. Sharing a meal that you’ve put your heart into or gathering around a communal table offers a unique sense of warmth and togetherness that just can’t be replicated anywhere else. Whether you're looking for cooking inspiration or memoirs from your favorite chefs, these audiobooks are sure to satisfy.

What listeners say about Yes, Chef

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Such a fascinating journey...

This is an amazing global story of families, food, hard work, and global flavors/experiences. It made me want to go on a food pilgrimage to NYC and other cities just to try out some of the places Mr. Samuelsson mentions as influences. But, of course, we’ll have to wait the pandemic out. Still, even without the in-person experience, samuelsson’s story is fascinating and full of twists and turns, failures and successes, fresh ingredients and ancient flavors. I highly recommend this book for fans of cooking/food writing, biographies of notable people, and multi-ethnic stories. It will remind you that there are amazing people with amazing vision for what the world should be like!

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Loved it!

I got this because it was cooking related and I love to read about restaurants and chefs. I had no idea it was narrated by the author. Typically I don’t like that because most writers don’t have the skills of a trained narrator, however in this situation it was wonderful. Hearing Marcus tell his life story in his own words was amazing! Often I find nonfiction boring. But he made it so incredibly interesting.

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Amazing journey from Africa to Sweden to US

Marcus Samuelsson takes us through the joy and heartaches of becoming a fantastic chef and helping to change the perception of great cuisine around the world.

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race, cooking, adoption, a great read

as an adopted person, I am hearted to finally read am adoption story that isn't all about angst and not belonging and not connecting with your adoptive parents. I, like Marcus, had a wonderful childhood with great parents. I grew up in MN and thus really enjoyed reading about the swedish part of his heritage. it's interesting to see how much race affects life regardless of nationality. an inspiring and moving book. I recommend to anyone who likes food.

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I love this book. I go much out of it.

As a soon graduate of a culinary school I got so much from this book. I enjoyed the read.

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Woulda liked this book even without him narrating

This is a very well-written book about a unique journey that brought Marcus to where he is today. I enjoyed listening him to him narrate his own book. Oftentimes, this isn't the best idea, but his pacing and accent add great flavor to the already-great book. The book has a lot of kitchen stories, and it also touches on his adoption, race and love. It all blends together quite nicely. It's definitely worth the listen!

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INSPIRING

Marcus Samuelsson has told history in a raw and honestly beautiful manner. Samuelsson's humanity and love for human beings left me in tears many times,Thank you for sharing your amazing story and for the person you have chosen to be in the world.

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Better than I thought

Actually, i admired this chef on the various cooking shows he is in. To read about his life struggles to where he is now it is an amazing read. I believe that audible is the best way to go because of the language.

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great story!

liked that it was read by the author; that made it seem much more personal.

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Slow start; worth your perseverance

Slow start, but worth sticking with the story. The "poor immigrant makes good" theme is there, and that can warm your heart or not, but it also contains information about how he rose to the top of his business as a capable chef. Interesting to get a look into the process, obstacles and triumphs.

Author reads his own book here. Not a polished voice actor; detracts some but lends a feel of authenticity. Not sure whether or not I think that was the best decision, the best route.

Overall, not bad, but far from fantastic or great.

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