The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman
May 16, 2006
This is the third ______ of a Chef title that Ruhlman has written, along with four books on non-food related topics and co-writing some great cookbooks, and while I personally feel his Walk on Water remains the current pinnacle of his writing, it is this trio of books about the life of the chef that Ruhlman will be remembered for in the days to come.
Since his last chef title, The Soul of a Chef, the Food Network has continued to expand and talents like Emeril Lagasse are opening one or two new restaurants per year. It is this chef as celebrity status that Ruhlman is most interested in this particular book. He opens with a chapter on Thomas Keller’s opening of Per Se, his New York City follow-up to The French Laundry Ruhlman wrote up back in Soul. Ruhlman and Keller have shared much with each other – the section in The Soul of a Chef, co-writing The French Laundry Cookbook, as well as many cooking/food columns for a Californian newspaper. The familiarity comes through in this section of the book as Ruhlman details many things about Keller, his kitchen and the operation of Per Se, without his specifically being told any of the information.
From this grand opening, Ruhlman then moves on to a visit back to the Culinary Institute of America (where Making of a Chef, his initial foray into writing on cooking, was set) to see what changes have been made with the rise of the celebrity chef. And quite a bit has changed and if there’s a section in this book that causes the reader to want to skim a bit, it is this visit to the CIA. There’s a touch too much of, It was a better place when I attended, going on. Not to the point of putting the book down (I read it in two sittings with a very small break in between), but one of the especially appealing aspects of Ruhlman’s writing is his ability to get the reader just as excited as he seems to be. And in these cases where he’s not all that excited about what he’s seeing and writing about, that aspect is removed.
Once Ruhlman is out of the CIA again, however, this book flies along. He goes through the next three sections of the book in an intriguing manner – he looks at up and coming important chefs, then big STAR chefs, and lastly, extremely top notch restaurants. In each case, Ruhlman locks onto two specific people or places, and is able to compare and contrast them.
First is the up and comers and Ruhlman looks at Grant Achatz, a technical wizard creating almost futuristic foods, who is set up in the Chicago area. He contrasts this with a look at Melissa Kelly, who is cooking fabulous versions of basic American meals like pot roast, or roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Where Achatz sets up multiple course meals where a course may be two drops of food, or simply smelling an aroma, Kelly has set up her restaurant in Maine and develops her menu partially by what vegetables are coming out of her garden that day. And Ruhlman’s fascination with each style and excellence makes his reader want to visit each.
The celebrity chefs, while Ruhlman visits and/or discusses Wolfgang Puck, Bobbie Flay, and others whose names you’ll recognize if your thumb has ever hesitated above the remote control while you’ve hit the Food Network, he specifically looks very closely at Emeril Lagasse and Rachel Ray. These two have gone way beyond being famous chefs – they have lines of cookware, shelves of cookbooks and multiple shows being taped on a daily basis. It brings about the question, especially for Lagasse, with his (I believe it’s up to) 9 restaurants – at what point is the celebrity chef no longer being a chef?
The last section, looking at Per Se, and another restaurant in the same (use this term loosely here) food court, Masa. Describing the differences between Keller’s tightly run Per Se, and Masa’s most expensive sushi restaurant in the world, Ruhlman shows just how exciting the world of food can be. Again, his excitement and enjoyment comes through – something not all non-fiction writers are capable of doing. Ruhlman has also come to the sensible conclusion that having written all that he has on the subject, he can no longer write himself out of the picture. A reader would find it incredibly odd that the chefs were not interacting with him throughout the book. While this is a twist on his prior work in the field, I think it was a necessary one.
Now that he’s gone that route, I hope Ruhlman feels more and more comfortable to continue exploring the various avenues and tributaries the world of food offers, and does so as soon and often as possible. If you’re not a foodie, this is an extremely well-written book that might make you wonder why you’re not. And with Ruhlman once again showing he’s the best when it comes to writing of food, if you are a foodie, I’m pretty sure you’ve already snapped it up and finished it.
4.5 stars.
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