Yes, Chef

A Memoir

By: Marcus Samuelsson

Narrated by: Marcus Samuelsson

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

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)

More than Meatballs

This seemed a no-brainer bargain buy - classically French trained, Ethiopian chef from Sweden who ended up in Harlem. Sounded fascinating, and so it turned out to be!

I'm neither great cook nor foodie, but I do watch Food Network shows in spare moments, and I've admired Samuelsson's point of view in his various contests and food shows. Turns out he's just as thoughtful and intelligent as he appears on TV.

Nothing is better than a memoir where the author actually has something to say - with honesty and humility. Sometimes our "American Dream" stories get glossed over, without revealing the price that almost always has to be paid for success in business. Samuelsson tells his own interesting life-so-far story without a lot of psychological self-analysis, but with awareness of his flaws - and with refreshing condor and lack of self pity. The people in his life ring true, and the reader/listener finds him/herself taking an interest in each one of them.

Must say I look forward to hearing what he has to say later on in his life. This is a memoir with a difference and well worth the time.

Inspiring, colorful story

Marcus Samuelsson's autobiography will take you from Ethiopia, to Sweden, to Austria and Switzerland, then to New York and then back and forth all over again. Marcus travelled the world gathering knowledge about food and people and then managing to learn a lot about himself in the process. This was a fascinating look in to the tough world of culinary arts and into the life of a very interesting Ethiopian born/ Swedish raised man who came to rest in Harlem , NYC. Read it!

Really rich, interesting story. And Chef narrates it!

Great story about Marcus Samuelsson’s very rich and interesting life. I really enjoyed it, and can’t wait to cook from Red Rooster Harlem again, this time with Chef’s voice in my head, and knowing more about the stories behind the dishes.

A hidden gem

A moving true story, made all the better in being read by the author, and subject.

good read but hard to understand at times

The narrator, himself, was hard to understand at times. I can understand why from the story. I think in some ways it added to the story but also distracted from it too.

The story itself was great. Although there was quite a lot of profanity. All throughout the book I was wanting to taste the dishes he was describing. They all sounded so good. Interesting to know the process a chef takes to get where he's at.

A very inspirational story

I had no reason to listen to this great book. I just saw that and thought I'd give it a try.

Entertaining and informative autobiography

What other book might you compare Yes, Chef to and why?

Letters to a Young Chef by Daniel Boulud because both are thoughtful and carefully crafted manuals for anyone thinking about becoming a chef, or just those of us who are simply fascinated by the subject of fine cuisine and the men and women who make cooking their profession.

What about Marcus Samuelsson’s performance did you like?

Mr. Samuelsson is a wonderful narrator. His voice is smooth and easy to listen to and it's hard to imagine anyone else reading this. I wish more writers would narrate their novels.

Any additional comments?

Marcus Samuelsson is a humble man with a remarkable background. His life is a testament to how driving desire and hard work can overcome prejudice and adversity. His story is fascinating and I came away with newfound respect and admiration for this chef. I hope one day to eat in his restaurant in Harlem, Red Rooster.

Great Story.

I enjoyed spending time with this book. I loved learning about the chefs background and inspirations. I felt wisked away to the international locations and tantliized by the flavors they revealed. The experiences Chef Marcus describes takes me back to my own experiences as a black woman in the culinary industry.

Amazing story. Amazing man.

This is wonderful and inspiring and an absolute instant favorite of mine. I'm not big on re-reads but I can't wait to revisit this one.

It's so much more than about cooking.

Would you consider the audio edition of Yes, Chef to be better than the print version?

YES!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marcus of course

What does Marcus Samuelsson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His life his perspective his voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, Marcus's emotion and intensity moved me to tears.