Chef’s And Culinary Memoirs: Two Chefs Who Have Something Valuable To Say
When Franco Lania—“The Inspirational Chef” called me on a cold Saturday morning in 2010 asking me for help writing his book, I had no idea that the phone call would be such a pivotal moment for me. I was about to embark on an incredible adventure, and there would be no turning back. The universe had provided us with what we were both looking for. It was a match made in heaven. What started out to be a cookbook, evolved into an incredible chef’s memoir—a story detailing the past twenty years of his chef’s career. An added bonus materialized as our relationship solidified and we discovered that we had similar interests and harmonizing knowledge bases to draw from, enabling us to plan several cookbooks to follow the release of his memoir.
Most recently, Chef Franco’s career has led him onto a new path of writing and inspiring people to cook for the ‘healing benefits’ they can achieve. He is re-dedicating himself to ‘inspirational cooking’. This is something he has experienced first-hand, and he’s quick to say “Cooking saved my life more than once.” His story is one of a passion that turned to an obsession and led him on a quest around the world to become the best chef he could be. Here is a brief excerpt on this topic from his upcoming book:
”After many years of cooking and trying to reach the goal of becoming a “seasoned chef” I began to slow down and I started to realize what food really is and means in the broader sense of culinary arts! I began to think that TV chef shows, culinary competitions, multi-million dollar chef branding, and celebrity chef status somehow obscured the true essence of food— the miracle behind it, and what it really means to life and our existence planet Earth. I never heard any of those TV personality chefs shed light on the spiritual side of cooking, or the true gift of food and the lack of appreciation most people have towards it.”
Chef Franco Lania - Italian Chef on Oceania Cruise Line
As we began to work putting his book together, I realized what a rich life this man had led thus far. Reading his pieces and chapters, I often found myself laughing out loud, or feeling his pain. The emotions—whatever they were, ran high and deep. His passion for his work as a chef was undeniable, and it had led him on a world-wide journey searching for culinary secrets and techniques—a journey that many people can only dream about.
I looked forward to receiving his work and reading through it. Seeing his photos and reading his stories, I watched twenty years his life evolving in front of me as I edited and pieced the story together. I felt privileged to be an insider, collaborating with him on his chef’s memoir and learning about his travels and the interesting journey that was his life.
I hadn’t thought about it before, but food is the international language and the great equalizer. Food is the fuel and the cultural link that adds the flavor, color, spice and richness to our lives. Everyone loves food, and many people are intrigued with chefs and lives they lead. They want to be chefs. This is evidenced by the astounding increase in chef’s TV shows over the past 5 years. Whether some of those shows are good or bad can be argued, but that is another discussion.
Right now, chefs are hot. But if you ask them—they have always been hot. It’s just that now, more people know about it. Chef memoirs and culinary memoirs offer us a glimpse into someone’s life that has been made interesting because of a passion for food, a devotion to the craft, a perseverance to be excellent, and very often travel and work in exotic locations. This creates a culture-rich backdrop where food is the star and it’s the medium through which the chef—the “culinary artist” defines and experiences life. The emotions may be high or low, but the food is always there acting as the great life teacher.
We learn about the chef’s upbringing and what leads them into a life devoted to food and travel. We embark on their journey with them, catching glimpses of the world through their eyes. Many times these glimpses are laser-focused views that lead to personal revelation. We witness the recklessness of their youth—filled with cockiness and bravado. Then as the memoirist matures, we witness reflection, triumph and perhaps regret. All the human emotions that we all experience are richly recollected in a deliciously detailed soufflé that expands as the memoirist proceeds on the journey and matures.
Sometimes there is a lot of struggle involved, so readers can relate to this as they too may be struggling. Chef’s memoirs can also give us hope. It’s the hope of living the dream—whatever it may be. We ask ourselves, “Where are they going next? What are they running from? What are they chasing after? Are they going to open that restaurant? Are they going to close that restaurant? Will they find what they are looking for?” And as the adventure enfolds with all its hills and valleys, we find ourselves thinking—I can’t put this book down, let me keep reading!
For people who love food or love to cook, they will enjoy the opportunity to temporarily get into the mind of someone who cooks for many, very often in exclusive places, or for dignitaries, or in their own restaurant that has been built on blood, sweat and tears. Each scenario offers a different set of circumstances, but the unifying factor is the food—always the food. This is real-life drama, set to food. And the drama is not staged as it often is on the more recent TV food shows that often pit chef against chef. Chefs are passionate people and a chef’s memoir is the real deal!
From the comfort of your seat on a subway train, your blanket on the beach, your favorite armchair, or your comfortable bed you can visit famous cities, and learn about the food and culture of another country through the eyes of someone who has devoted their life to food. Their experience is unique. And you’re catching that unique glimpse that only the chef who has “been there, and done that” can offer. Very often chefs meet or work for famous people, which can also add to the intrigue. When well-written, the experience is soul-bearing for the chef and emotionally resonating for the reader. Most often, when all the chapters are finally completed, the chef can barely believe they lived through their own life and adventures!
We get a glimpse of culture through the eyes of a chef. We get to travel with them, and we observe how each opportunity affects them. We can see them change and grow. We experience their happiness and their pain. We read about how they mature. We witness the choices that are set in front of them. We experience the opportunities, the missed opportunities, and their disappointments with them. We watch the mistakes they make, the lessons they learn, the setbacks and tragedies they endure and the sweetness and glory of victories that ensue as they continually rise up to meet each occasion. From what I have observed so far, chefs are not quitters.
Well written culinary memoirs offer us a fully-loaded menu of emotions. With more variety than a Las Vegas buffet, we become privy to the chef’s feelings of love, hate, passion, sadness, joy, confusion, impatience, inspiration, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, fear, jealousy, insecurity, conceit, pride, contentment— you name it. It’s the smorgasbord of emotions that make us human. We also witness the moments where pivotal decisions are made, and as we read on, we understand the results of the decision and how those decisions impacted the life of the chef, and those in their inner circle in the long term.
Many memoirs begin with early childhood memories of food in the family setting. These food associations and/or the persons involved are sometimes so influential that they are one of the reasons the person chooses the culinary lifestyle. This “food memory” is fascinating and when reading about someone else’s food associations, our own food memories can be jogged, triggering deep and meaningful recollections of our own. Very often these memories can have a healing or soothing effect. Sometimes, they may bring up sadness. Whatever the result, the emotions are strong—and real. Like well written novels, good culinary and chef’s memoirs also contain rich dialogue. I have been amazed at the valuable insight these recalled conversations have added to the stories. I first became aware of this working on Chef Franco’s manuscript.
Now, I am experiencing the same thing with Chef Otto Borsich working on his culinary trilogy – Taste the Freedom. The dialogue add s to the feeling of ‘being there’ as well as understanding why the certain things happen as the story unfolds. What’s truly fascinating is the amount of detail that is captured and how it adds depth, life and insight into the other players in the story while it helps us to understand the writer and what they went through.
And similarly to Chef Franco, Chef Otto also has a cause and a purpose that goes beyond cooking in fancy restaurants or gorgeous hotels. Here we are talking about food—and the unfortunate people—too high in numbers, who don’t have enough food. He has long been involved with many hunger projects over the past several years. One notable project was on Nantucket Island, where he created the Nantucket Chefs Food Festival, a multi-course gastronomic affair featuring the islands’ best chefs. All proceeds were donated to the Nantucket Emergency Food Pantry. The event is still going strong since its inception in 1992. But Chef Otto still dreams an even bigger dream—to assemble chefs from all 50 States on the White House lawn to cook up a storm and feed the hungry for days!
Seriousness aside, these chef’s memoirs also have a fair dose of humor woven into them. As I mentioned, I have laughed out loud when reading about their adventures. Each morsel of dialogue recalled by Chef Franco held tremendous lessons that he carried with him throughout his career. You can relate to the dialogue, and even say to yourself “I remember someone saying something like that to me when I was that age, why didn’t I listen?”
Chef Otto’s story has more twists and turns than a giant roller coaster. Once completed, I know readers will feel like they just walked into the ultimate amusement park of life as they travel with him through his humble beginnings in Ohio, to a world-class chef’s career that’s jam-packed with more hilarious and outrageous adventures than even Forrest Gump could imagine!
Here’s what I’ve learned from working with these two stellar chefs: They’ve both had successful chef’s careers, traveled the world extensively and educated themselves in pursuit of their cooking art, and appeared on TV food shows such as TVFN’s Challenge and Bravo’s Top Chef, though neither one achieved ‘instant’ TV stardom. However—and this is what I’ve realized that really counts—both of them truly have something extremely valuable to say and share with the world—and they are just getting started! They have definitely paid their dues in the kitchen, but now they are utilizing their skills and the richness of their food careers in ways to help others. And they’re using writing as one of the ways to get the message out! I find that truly admirable and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Stay tuned, because both of these men have something to say and both stories are page turners!
Category: New Books Coming!, Writing & Publishing
