When I met him, he read novels, too, and was the perfect bookish pal in that if I said, “Hey, read this,” he would just immediately read it. What fun! We’d chat about those books and argue about their merits (he did not love Love Medicine for some unfathomable reason), and it was something that brought us together. In recent years, as he’s worked his way through the ranks from a line cook to Chef-de-Cuisine, his time for reading frivolous novels (I write with my tongue firmly in my cheek) has diminished and when he’s got time to read, he chooses to use it to better his craft. I miss the days when our reading lives overlapped. But wait! There is good news — I found a solution: non-cookbook books by chefs. These books are just as easy to argue over as any narrative fiction and he can tell himself he’s “bettering himself” professionally. Once again, what fun! So let’s take a gander at some of my favorite recent books by chefs. Author of the deliriously successful Momofuku cookbooks (based on his equally-successful restaurant of the same name), Chang’s also been ruling the TV game with his Netflix show Ugly Delicious and his many appearances on other shows. As a person who tries to eat mostly plant-based, I can’t say I’m particularly charmed by his long-defended stance on vegetarian dishes — he famously did not offer any at his restaurants until recently — but this book was interesting, thought-provoking, and a whole lot of fun. Former ballet dancer, then pastry chef, and now memoir writer, Grant manages to tie in every important event in her life with the food-related joy or pain that came along with it. When I say this book is stunning, I am for once not being hyperbolic. Yes, this book is about a woman becoming a cook and then a chef, but it is more about a person becoming a true badass. It just happens that she chose a culinary path, but make no mistake — it is difficult to imagine any career path that Crenn wouldn’t have found a way to knock out of the park.
