Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Feed Your Mind: How I Learned to Cook
By
Laren Spirer
Published Apr 26, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Laren Spirer
Published Apr 26, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Feed Your Mind is a new column that will focus on food-related books.
Have you ever wondered what sparked the culinary careers of the world's top chefs? Sure, they may be huge names today, but where did they start and how did they get there? How I Learned to Cook: Culinary Educations from the World's Greatest Chefs is an entertaining view into pivotal moments in the lives of culinary leaders like Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, and Eric Ripert.
Some were always on the path to becoming chefs, while others started elsewhere. Fergus Henderson was once an architect with a fondness for long lunches; Masaharu Morimoto might have been a pro baseball player were it not for a shoulder injury. And the road to success was, for many, not a smooth one. Gabrielle Hamilton nearly lost an eye from exploding fava beans, tossed wet into a vat of frying oil, and Ming Tsai practically drowned in chocolate ganache when he miscalculated the proportions of his ingredients. Some are funny, others touching, but each chef's story lends a fascinating insight into his or her journey towards chefdom.
Edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan; published by Bloomsbury. Available on Amazon.com
Tagged
amazon.com
anthony bourdain
baseball
books
eric ripert
fergus henderson
food
Gabrielle Hamilton
mario batali
Masaharu Morimoto
Ming Tsai
Peter Meehan
Laren Spirer
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .