If you're a fan of the intense restaurant-based dramedy The Bear, you might enjoy these memoirs and nonfiction books about chefs and restaurant life. Or if you want to follow Carmy and Sydney into the kitchen, check out MHL's new subscription to the New York Times Cooking! (If you've been wanting to watch The Bear but don't have Hulu: you can request the library's Roku with Hulu access.) And if you're still hungry for more, you might also enjoy these novels set in restaurants.
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Black, white, and The Grey : the story of an unexpected friendship and a beloved restaurant
by Mashama Bailey The business partners and friends behind the At The Grey restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, provide recipes and discuss how they came to understand their differences, challenge themselves to be better and generate conversations about race, gender, class and culture. |
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Bourdain : the definitive oral biography
by Laurie Woolever The closest friends and colleagues of the late travel and food writer share their memories of his incredible life, from his early years in New York, his best-selling memoir Kitchen Confidential and emergence as a TV star. |
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Finding Freedom : a cook's story : remaking a life from scratch
by Erin French The award-winning chef from The Lost Kitchen in Maine shares the story of how she overcame severe anxiety, addiction and the challenges of single parenthood to become the proprietor of a world-class restaurant. |
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Food journeys of a lifetime : 500 extraordinary places to eat around the globe
by National Geographic Society (U.S.) The expert travel writers at National Geographic look at 60 culinary destinations, including Tokyo's famed fish market, the spice markets of Marrakech, the freshest pasta in Italy and the ultimate cheesesteak in Philadelphia. |
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Last call at Coogan's : the life and death of a neighborhood bar
by Jon Michaud This history of the beloved New York City neighborhood bar focuses on its role as a bulwark against prejudice in the multi-ethnic, majority-immigrant community of Washington Heights, from its 1985 opening to its closing in 2020. |
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Mango and peppercorns : a memoir of food, an unlikely family, and the American dream
by Tung Nguyen In 1975, Tung Nguyen fled Vietnam as a pregnant refugee and landed in Miami, where she met Kathy Manning, an American grad student who opened her doors to eleven immigrants. The two women grew close, raising Tung's daughter, Lyn, together and opening a tiny restaurant. Hy Vong, meaning Hope in Vietnamese, quickly became famous in the local community for its delicious, authentic Vietnamese flavors. The restaurant continued to gain in popularity, until it reached national and critical acclaim. This book is their intertwining narratives, punctuated by recipes from Tung and Kathy's upbringings, and the Hy Vong restaurant. |
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My first popsicle : an anthology of food and feelings
by Zosia Mamet With contributions from a vast array of talents—including Stephanie Danler, Anita Lo, Tony Hale, Patti LuPone and Gabourey Sidibe—this collection of essays tackles the topic of food and its entwinement with our emotions and our lives. |
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The next supper : the end of restaurants as we knew them, and what comes after
by Corey Mintz From the farm to the curbside pickup parking spot, this book shows how everything about the restaurant business is changing, and offers essential advice for what and how to eat to ensure the well-being of cooks and waitstaff, as well as our bodies and the environment. |
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Notes from a young Black chef : a memoir
by Kwame Onwuachi The Top Chef star and "30 Under 30" Forbes honoree traces his culinary coming-of-age in both the Bronx and Nigeria, discussing his eclectic training in acclaimed restaurants while sharing insights into the racial barriers that have challenged his career. |
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Raw dog : the naked truth about hot dogs
by Jamie Loftus In a book that is part travelogue, part cultural history, a popular comedian embarks on a cross-country road trip researching the landscape of American hot dogs as they're served today, weighing in on the reality of hot dog production, the best hot dog in the U.S. and critically overlooked bun infrastructure problems. |
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Savor : a chef's hunger for more
by Fatima Ali In this triumphant memoir, a young, boundary-breaking culinary star, diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, spends her final year savoring the world, delicious food and her loved ones, as she reflects on her life and her identity as a chef, a daughter and a queer woman butting up against traditional views. |
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Workhorse : my sublime and absurd years in New York City's restaurant scene
by Kim Reed After years spent making the impossible possible for someone else, the former assistant to Joe Bostianich presents this deep-dive into coming of age into the chaos of NYC's food craze and an all-too-relatable look at what happens when your job takes over your identity. |
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Yes, chef : a memoir
by Marcus Samuelsson The Top Chef: Masters winner and James Beard Award-winning proprietor of Harlem's Red Rooster traces his Ethiopian birth, upbringing by an adoptive family in Sweden and rise to a famous New York chef, sharing personal insights into his challenges as a black man in a deeply prejudiced industry. |
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Your table is ready : tales of a New York City maitre d'
by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina In this entertaining, enlightening and edgy memoir, a career maître d'hotel, who has manned the front room at the hottest restaurants in NYC from the 1970s to 2020, breaks down how restaurants really run (and don't) and how the economics work for owners and staff alike. |