Editor’s Note
“Refreshing & inspiring…”
Orphaned, adopted & raised in a strange land, Marcus Samuelsson rose from apprentice to star chef. His story is one of humility, discipline, drive, and passion for food, and it is refreshing & inspiring in this millennial age.Mallory F.
Scribd Editor
JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY VOGUE • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"One of the great culinary stories of our time."—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother's house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.
Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister—all battling tuberculosis—walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Göteborg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus's new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up.
Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson's remarkable journey from Helga's humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson's career of "chasing flavors," as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fufilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home.
With disarming honesty and intimacy, Samuelsson also opens up about his failures—the price of ambition, in human terms—and recounts his emotional journey, as a grown man, to meet the father he never knew. Yes, Chef is a tale of personal discovery, unshakable determination, and the passionate, playful pursuit of flavors—one man's struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen, and in the world.
Praise for Yes, Chef
"Such an interesting life, told with touching modesty and remarkable candor."—Ruth Reichl
"Marcus Samuelsson has an incomparable story, a quiet bravery, and a lyrical and discreetly glittering style—in the kitchen and on the page. I liked this book so very, very much."—Gabrielle Hamilton
"Plenty of celebrity chefs have a compelling story to tell, but none of them can top [this] one."—The Wall Street Journal
"Red Rooster's arrival in Harlem brought with it a chef who has reinvigorated and reimagined what it means to be American. In his famed dishes, and now in this memoir, Marcus Samuelsson tells a story that reaches past racial and national divides to the foundations of family, hope, and downright good food."—President Bill Clinton
From the Hardcover edition.
Published: Random House Audio on Jun 26, 2012
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Realistic preview at the career of an accomplished chef. Eloquently read by author. Overall comprehensive view of what happens to an aspiring cook on their way to the top.more
I've been reading a lot of chef memoirs recently. While enjoyable enough to read all the way through, Yes, Chef seems just a little bit too smug and self-serving. Most book in this genre include a few recipes, but Yes, Chef does not. And it suffers as a result.
Marcus makes a big deal about his cookbook "The Soul of a New Cuisine" being revolutionary and bringing unknown recipes to the American public. Perhaps because I already cook a lot of Middle Eastern food, and North African and Middle Eastern foodways overlap, I found many of the recipes in Soul of a New Cuisine to be things that are already common dishes in my house, rather than revolutionary new ideas.more
Marcus makes a big deal about his cookbook "The Soul of a New Cuisine" being revolutionary and bringing unknown recipes to the American public. Perhaps because I already cook a lot of Middle Eastern food, and North African and Middle Eastern foodways overlap, I found many of the recipes in Soul of a New Cuisine to be things that are already common dishes in my house, rather than revolutionary new ideas.more
Marcus Samuelsson's journey "chasing flavor" has been a hell of a ride, and it's not over yet! I found his story very absorbing. Touching and poignant when he speaks of his family, focused and insightful when he turns to his career. A good read for anyone who wants to learn what it takes to be a great chef (without the drugs and boozing of other chefs' memoirs), but entertaining for the casual reader as well.more
I found this memoir interesting and it kept my interest throughout the entire book. I usually don't like memoirs after reading them, due to their egoistic slant,but I found only a very exciting journey with Marcus Samuelsson leading the way through his life. From a simple ritual of walking to his grandmother's home every Saturday to help her prepare a roast chicken for dinner to the tale of his being adopted and living in America, I wanted to know more and more about this remarkable man. He chronicles his journey for us from Helga's humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City. At 24 he earned a New York Times 3 star rating, and went on to prepare White House State dinners, and the opening of his beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. But not to just record his triumphs the author opens up about his failures, the price of ambition and along the way growing into a man. I recommend this book to everyone who loves cooking and experimenting with flavors and ideas in culinary worlds, but also for anyone trying to find a placed for themselves in the world around them. Truly inspiring and a great gift for friends and relatives.And my favorite part: his falling in love and marrying Maya. All through the book, I wondered when he would become less ambitious to take time for fun and romance, and then, it happened. Yes, Chef is written with candor and modesty; an excellent memoir.more
I’ve seen Marcus Samuelsson on a lot of TV shows and liked him a lot, so I was pretty stoked when I won Yes, Chef on LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers programme.Samuelsson has certainly had a very interesting life, and it was fascinating to read his perspective as an Ethiopian adopted by a Swedish family, transplanted to the US. I learned a lot about Sweden, the restaurant industry, Ethiopian spices, and a lot more, so I would recommend the book for that reason.The negatives: this book is clearly ghost-written – even though it’s written in the first person, there’s a peculiar detachment to it which I found slightly off-putting. Also, Samuelsson is not always the most likeable of people, especially when he abandons his daughter and tries to justify it “without sounding like a jerk.”more
An entertaining look at what it takes to succeed as a chef and how brutal the restaurant world can be. The section of the book that covers his early years is much more engaging and thoughtful than the more recent material. It would be a good book to give the foodie in your life.more
I first encountered Marcus Samuelsson in the restaurant reviews in the late and much-lamented Gourmet Magazine. Later I read more about him, his story, and his food. I watched him on various food shows, watched bits and pieces of his own television show, and watched him win Top Chef Masters during an incredible season. I've gotten a great deal of pleasure reading about him, his food, using his recipes, and watching him cook so I was very happy to get a copy of his memoir.Yes, Chef takes the reader through Mr. Samuelsson's journey from a child from Ethiopia adopted by a Swedish family, through all his culinary adventures until today. It's a wonderful story full of self-reflection, meditations on flavor, passion for cooking and creating, culinary training and perspectives, and his own discovery of his complex history and cultures. It's also about ambition and the prices you pay for success, the things you lose along the way.Mr. Samuelsson is honest about himself and his own shortcomings. His voice is clear and rooted in a love of all kinds of food and intimacy and community that comes of sharing a table, recipes, cooking techniques, and the kitchen. I loved every minute of it. Highly recommended for anyone who loves food (that means you!).more
This has to be one of the best memoirs I have read in a very long time. I did not know much about Marcus Samuelson when i picked up the book, but i wanted to read it to know more about the cooking world. Marcus is Ethiopian born, but adopted and raised in Sweden. The cultural issues of that experience are described through his story. I found the mix of what it takes to be a top chef and the implications of being a minority in this field to be a compelling tale. He tackles the issues through his experience without judgement but also talks a out his continuous searching and finding his place. The book was also interesting in that the author describes the ways in which he went about developing his signature dishes. Marcus Samuelson has traveled extensively and he brings those travels to life through his food. As a reader you can feel the food and a young chef developing through those travels. If you are interested in cooking, or if you just want a great read, this is a great story that I would recommend. Reader received a complimentary copy from Good Reads First Reads.more
I don't usually read memoirs, but a recommendation from another LT reader convinced me to give this one a try--and I'm glad that I did. I knew the bare bones of Marcus Samuelsson's story--that he was adopted from Africa by a Swedish couple and worked his way up to become a top chef in America--and I had seen him on TV. But his memoir proves him to be both a dedicated chef and, as an author, a brutally honest man who examines his own mistakes unflinchingly. Samuelsson doesn't remember much about Africa; he was less than two years old when his mother, who was suffering from tuberculosis, walked many miles to get treatment for him and his older sister. She died in the hospital, and the children were quickly adopted by a forty-ish Swedish couple. Most of his memories are of a loving home, and of the grandmother who first sparked his interest in food. But as might be expected, there were also times when it wasn't easy being a black boy in a small Swedish town.Samuelsson's early years as rising as a chef were marked by absolute ambition, and he paid an emotional price. He missed the funerals of both his father and grandmother, and he neglected a daughter born out of wedlock until she was 14 (although his parents paid his child support--and billed him later--and kept in touch with Zoe). But there's no whining here: Samuelsson admits his mistakes and takes the blame for their repercussions. After he had achieved a good measure of success and had time to reflect on what was lost, it was too late to mend some fences. But Samuelsson worked to build a relationship with Zoe and with his newly-rediscovered Ethiopian family.Samuelsson gives us a fascinating look into the world of elilte chefs, a world that is at one moment cutthroat and at the next takes the term "networking" to new heights. But Yes, Chef is more than a professional memoir; it's the very human story of a man I've learned to respect.more
I was first introduced to Marcus Samuelsson when watching the cooking reality show, “Top Chef Masters.” It was easy to be drawn to this low-keyed gentle man participating with a natural elegance in the midst of the "drama" that can surround the personalities of such reality shows. While they never delved deeply into his history, it was clear that he had an interesting story that had brought him to this place in his life…owner and celebrity chef of “Red Rooster” restaurant in Harlem NY where he lives with his wife.So I jumped at the chance to request the Advanced Reader’s Copy of his forthcoming book, "Yes Chef," when it was offered on the Librarything.com Early Reviewers Book List.I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. I have heard it described as “elegant” and it truly is…elegant and simply told in a manner that so engaging and rings so true. Thoughout the story of his life’s journey, from a very poor farm in Ethiopia to a loving family in Sweden, to pursuing his goal of becoming an executive chef, arriving in NY at 24 years of age to open a Swedish restaurant, Aquavit. It is too fantastical to be a fictional script! Who would have ever dreamed up such a journey!The story is told with simplicity that imbues it with a sense of reverence! He continually pays homage to those in his life, from the respect of his birth mother who, while sick herself, carried him on the long 75 mile walk to a hospital in Addis Ababa and then once there managed to actually obtain treatment for him and his older sister in the midst of huge crowds of people seeking aid.He pays homage to his adoptive parents and his Swedish grandmother who welcomed him and his sister into their home and gave him a life unimagined by an Ethiopian child. His book is dedicated to his two mothers.While I enjoyed the first part of the book more than the later part, the entire story engaged me. I was left with a tremendous admiration for his persistence and willingness to steadily work hard to move toward his goal. It is a story of hard work. He shows up and he does the next directed thing. I highly recommend the book to those interested in an immigrant story, in the inner workings of the restaurant industry and a glimpse into the heart and mind of an admirable young man.more
I've enjoyed seeing Marcus Samuelsson on Chopped and The Next Iron Chef and it was great to learn more about his background. I would love to try some of his food.Samuelsson acknowledges having someone help him with the book but it doesn't come across as too polished; Samuelsson is a chef before he is an author, and I think the writing style is appropriate and readable. However, there were multiple places that felt too forced, where it was more telling about his passion and drive for food (obvious!) than letting that come across through the story. And the last part of the book was choppy and episodic. On the plus side, he is honest about his mistakes and flaws. He has sacrificed a lot to get to where he is today.more
I rarely read memoirs, especially from celebrities (yes chefs can be celebrities, too), because they typically turn into salacious tell-alls. This story has none of that. Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, orphaned at the age of three, and adopted by Swedish parents together with his sister. He was raised in a loving home, and because of his small size, ended up cooking in his grandmothers kitchen in lieu of playing football. He also learned how food can become more than just a meal while cooking with his father out on the fishing trips. Food can be a ritual.This book delves deeply into a man who seems to have so much love in his heart. Love for his family, love for the country of his birth, love of Sweden, and love of New York. Chef Samuelsson tells his story with no tears for what he has gone through, and enormous gratitude to his family and friends. A very inspiring read.more
Extremely readable biographical story from one of the top names in innovative American cooking. Fascinating look into some of the elements that make eating in New York all that it is, with detours through Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Ethiopia. Samuelsson is a gregarious narrator and takes on questions of identity in stride, although his take on race seems a bit less nuanced than may be expected given the obvious complexity inherent in the lived experiences and culinary experiments described.more
I am an admirer of Mr. Samuelsson, and did enjoy his account of his personal journey from Sweden to be a leading chef with a global following. I couldn't help comparing his memoir to that of Jacques Pepin (The Apprentice), and in reflection felt that Pepin's humility and warmth made his success much more admirable.more
Born of Ethiopian parents and orphaned at age 3, Kassahun Tsegie and his 5 year old sister, Fantaye Tsegie, survivors of tuberculosis, are adopted by a Swedish couple and renamed Marcus and Linda Samuelsson. Growing up in Sweden, he builds a love affair with food helping his grandmother in her kitchen, learning from her the traditional techniques of layering flavors, tenderizing meat and not taking short cuts. From his mother, he learns about unwavering love and support, from his father, the stoic Swedish ethic of hard work.The memoir covers his journey as boy, as a man, as a chef, as a father and as a son. One of the first few black chef, he could have focused on the doors that were closed to him because of his race, but instead he chooses to focus on the determination he had within him to succeed, the lessons he learned from his chosen mentors and the ones he tries to pass on to others seeking a career in the culinary arts.It's a well-written and candid approach to what it takes to become a chef in the competitive culinary world, but it's also a memoir of a man who bridges multiple cultures, who discovers a family history he was unaware of, and who finally finds a place where he can truly call home.more
I expect this book will break out of the culinary section and into the mainstream faster than Chef Samuelsson can whip up one of his award-winning dishes. It is the classic rags-to-riches theme with a modern day multicultural twist, set in a fresh and luscious food environment. It is also a story of paying goodness forward and building community. Like the world-renowned flavors he creates, Marcus' writing is skillfully layered and masterfully textured. A definitely recommend for foodies and non-foodies alike.more
The professional kitchen world is a brutal environment in which to make a living. Those that survive and thrive in that world are a very special breed - a subculture to themselves with their own set of rules all seem to understand without being talked about. This chef’s memoir is unlike any other I have read. It is more than just a peek behind the swinging kitchen door of a 3 or 4 star restaurant. It’s a look at the racial divide that exists in that world. A divide that exists even at a world-wide level, which I would not have expected somehow. A divide that Chef Marcus Samuelsson is determined to erase. Aside from that very strong message that was emphasized throughout the book, I was most impressed with Chef Samuelsson’s drive and determination that was apparent even from an early age. This along with immense creativity and a well developed palate are essential to success as a professional chef. It is a truly remarkable journey Marcus Samuelsson has been on from being an orphan in Ethiopia to cooking the Obama administration’s first State Dinner. One that I was completely swept up in while devouring the pages of this book as if I were at The Red Rooster enjoying a meal especially created just for me.more
One of my favorite genres of book is the memoir, and when it is a food memoir by a person with an interesting life, well, let's just say I was prepared to like this book before I read a word. However, I loved this book! Chef Samuelsson has had quite a life with both ups and downs and never gave up or gave in. I was very impressed with the credit he gave to everyone who helped him, especially his adoptive parents. He never hesitated to accept blame or responsibility for anything that was his fault and he continues to give a helping hand to all that he can. In addition to being a thoroughly nice person, he is apparently a great chef as well. I liked reading his discriptions of food and how he cooked it and made the dishes his own. This was a really, really good book for all of the foodophiles out there. I wasn't surprised that his Swedish grandmother instilled the "waste nothing" philosphy in him, but I was a little surprised that after having achieved success and opened his own restaurant he still adheres to that philosophy. But perhaps I shouldn't be considering his Ethiopian roots. All in all, an excellent memoir.more
Yes, Chef is the wonderful memoir of celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. Marcus, born an Ethiopian and later adopted by loving Swedish parents, developed a love of cooking in his Swedish grandmother's kitchen. His determination to become a top-rated chef is awe-inspiring. I especially enjoyed reading about Marcus's food explorations and his descriptions of favorite flavors. As a longtime fan of his from Top Chef and FoodNetwork, I was disappointed not to have more inside behind-the-scenes stories and secrets about being a TV chef. Still, what matters to Marcus is his heritage and his home in Harlem NY and I was fascinated to read his story.more
How do I love this book? Let me count the ways. I love the inspiration found within for cultures to embrace one another through food and exposure. I love the unvarnished tale of mistakes and triumphs and the owning up thereof. I love the details of life in Sweden and beyond. I love the insight into what it takes to become a "Great Chef." I love the intimate details of food and flavors. I love the heart and soul and vision of this man who has acted on his beliefs with courage, hard work and determination. Especially, I love the hope it gives me for our future, if men and women like this are involved in our future. My only regret is that I will probably never be able to dine at the Red Rooster, but then again, who knows what will come in the next bend of life's journey?This story is lovingly told. The writing is a joy to read, and I was completely mesmerized with the tale. It is far more than a story of one man's success in the fine dining establishments, it is a story of personal growth, of change and of courage. In the 1980s, I was teaching my children about the world through cuisine and I couldn't find any books about the food of Africa. Some about the northern countries, yes, but nothing more than a recipe here or there. I mentioned my frustration to a relative who was known for his knowledge of fine dining and his response was, "Maybe there isn't enough food there to make good recipes." I wish that relative had lived long enough to read Chef Samuelsson's cookbooks and this memoir as well. He would have enjoyed the education. I am thrilled to finally be introduced to this continent through its cuisine. Thank you, Chef, for taking the time to share your story and your life with us.more
This book ended up being such a surprising joy! With all of the memoirs out there, it is hard to know when one will really strike the reader. I just loved reading Marcus Samuelsson's unique story from birth to chef/culinary success. He is an interesting, complex, positive man who tells of his journey "chasing flavors" across the globe and in the most innovative kitchens (including his grandmother's) to give to all people, no matter color, income level or country of origin, a sense of home and a bit of food love. He is incredibly well-traveled and shares his joy of wanderings via food and the professionals who surrounded him. The high level chef trade is ruthless (and racist) in some ways and simply a demanding profession in other ways, where only the driven, tenatious and creative can flourish and succeed. He portrays this dichotomy so incrediby well, but without "bashing" on fellow chefs, opportunists, etc. He merely reports the facts. The spinal cord of the book is the food, from Sweden to Ethiopia (his countries of origin), Europe, Asia and not just the 3 star restautrants, but street food, cruise ships, line cooks and home kitchens of the world. I learned a suprising amount about so many cultures, simply through the food. Mr. Samuelsson is not a perfect man, and lays his flaws and hardships right out there. But through it all is the clear respect, love and friendship he has had with so many people who influenced his life, and vice versa. There is just something about the way he told his story that truly made me believe in the good in people and that we can do whatever we set our minds to. I did not rate this five stars because it fizzled a bit at the end, tried to be too much and was repetitive in the last few chapters (needed a bit more editing perhaps). But overall, I highly recommend this memoir, especially if you love reading about food and cooking (I wanted to try half of his recipes and make them my own!) and want something that will lift your spirit a bit in the process.more
An impoverished Ethiopian boy contracts tuberculosis and his mother walks him and his sister 75 miles to the nearest hospital to save their lives while losing her own. The orphaned siblings are then adopted by a working class white couple in Sweden, where he grows up happily and develops a deep love for cooking under the tutelage of his maternal grandmother. Starting at the absolute bottom of the restaurant world, the young man develops his craft through hard work and a single-minded focus that carries him to kitchens across three continents. He becomes the youngest three-star chef in New York City history and rises to a celebrity status that allows him to cook for presidents at the same time he is winning cooking contests against world-class competition. At some point in this journey, he reconnects with an out-of-wedlock Austrian daughter and his long-lost family in Ethiopia while finding a new home for himself, the African-born model he recently married, and his new restaurant in the heart of Harlem.If, as a publisher or movie producer, a fledging writer brought you a manuscript of that tale, you would undoubtedly reject it out of hand as being totally implausible. And yet, it is the true—and altogether remarkable—story of Marcus Samuelsson. Told with refreshing candor and humility, ‘Yes, Chef’ is one of the most engaging and inspiring memoirs that I have ever read. Throughout the book, I was struck by Samuelsson’s passion for food and his drive to succeed at the highest level of a profession in which few other people of color are even offered a chance. However, that resolute commitment to professional excellence came with significant personal costs and Samuelsson does not shy away from discussing his myriad failures of both omission and commission. Still, a lifetime of “chasing flavors” around the globe provides him with more good moments than bad and ultimately defines who he is as a chef.This is not a perfect book—it could have been a little shorter, particularly in the last section—but it is an extremely well-written one. To his credit, Samuelsson readily acknowledges the significant collaboration of Veronica Chambers, who apparently crafted much of what appears on the page. And what is recorded on these pages is the story of a genuine, honest, and highly disciplined man who has risen to the top. Although immersed in the culinary world, it is also an account that can serve as a “how to” manual for anyone wondering what it takes to be successful in their chosen field. I came away from reading the book really liking and admiring Samuelsson. Indeed, perhaps the best compliment I can offer is to say that I will go out of my way to eat his food whenever I get the chance.more
In the only book I have ever dog-eared a page of, this paragraph resonated... screamed... to me: "It's my gig, my art, my life. Always has been, always will be. I'm always battling myself--the part of me that says I can and the part of me that says I can't. My greatest gift has been that the part of me that says "I can" is always, always just a little bit louder." It is in the very bones of every artist dedicated to the path of their vision - fear and refusing to give in to it. Chef Marcus Samuelsson speaks of music, of art, of flavor, people, determination and passion in his memoir, "Yes, Chef"; a must read for any artist trying to find their footing. From the dusty paths of Ethiopia, to the gritty streets of Harlem, one artist traverses the path of history to home in the homemade flavors of his life; first learning the rhythm of food from his adoptive grandmother in Sweden, to later forays in France, London, and New York. Most important in this tale is the one of authenticity, of not only paying homage to your roots, but to putting your own mark upon the landscape of your life; the failures and the triumphs. The inspiring story of Marcus's life leaves an imprint on the reader, to not only follow your dreams, but to do it with the soul, sweat, and salvation that are imprinted in each of us that have a dream; to live beyond the stereotypes and accept the path for what it is; hard work, and, eventually, the reality that "yes, you can."more
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