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jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not a foodie so I'd never heard of Kwame Onwuachi before I picked up this memoir. He grew up in the Bronx with his mom and sister, trying his best to avoid his estranged and abusive father. When Kwame started getting too difficult for his mom to handle, she sent him to live with his grandparents in Nigeria for two years. But when he returned to the States, the easy money he could make on the streets tempted him a little too loudly. It was his love for food and cooking that helped him turn his life around.
Kwame's passion for cooking and feeding hungry people shines through these pages. When he decides to walk away from his life on the streets, he has to work impossibly hard to put himself through culinary school but he does it. His motto seems to be “Go big or go home” and that mostly works for him. If you don’t aim high, you won’t go high, right?
I love the way that he incorporates elements of his life in his food. His mom’s Creole cuisine, his dad’s Nigerian cooking, and a big dose of his own talent and creativity. But he’s serving these dishes in his own fine dining restaurants and breaking down barriers.
I did find it odd that the book synopsis mentions that Kwame has opened five restaurants but his memoir ends just after he opens his first. I would have liked to read more about his big successes.
If you’re interested in reading about a young chef who is finding ways to make both kitchens and fine cuisine more inclusive, pick this up.
Kwame's passion for cooking and feeding hungry people shines through these pages. When he decides to walk away from his life on the streets, he has to work impossibly hard to put himself through culinary school but he does it. His motto seems to be “Go big or go home” and that mostly works for him. If you don’t aim high, you won’t go high, right?
I love the way that he incorporates elements of his life in his food. His mom’s Creole cuisine, his dad’s Nigerian cooking, and a big dose of his own talent and creativity. But he’s serving these dishes in his own fine dining restaurants and breaking down barriers.
I did find it odd that the book synopsis mentions that Kwame has opened five restaurants but his memoir ends just after he opens his first. I would have liked to read more about his big successes.
If you’re interested in reading about a young chef who is finding ways to make both kitchens and fine cuisine more inclusive, pick this up.
ryner's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
3.0
In this culinary memoir, Kwame Onwuachi describes how he arose from a rough-and-tumble childhood selling drugs to putting himself through cooking school and emerging as a 2019 James Beard "Rising Star Chef of the Year."
Every time I read memoirs from the culinary world, my mouth waters at all the descriptions of food preparation and regret that no one has yet invented books you can taste. I enjoyed Onwuachi's impressive and detailed life story (so far). The narrative flowed at a steady pace and was always interesting. I selected the version "adapted for young adults" to fulfill the Read Harder category "a YA nonfiction book," but I think I would have appreciated something meatier (no pun intended), so I would recommend prospective readers to reach for the other edition.
Every time I read memoirs from the culinary world, my mouth waters at all the descriptions of food preparation and regret that no one has yet invented books you can taste. I enjoyed Onwuachi's impressive and detailed life story (so far). The narrative flowed at a steady pace and was always interesting. I selected the version "adapted for young adults" to fulfill the Read Harder category "a YA nonfiction book," but I think I would have appreciated something meatier (no pun intended), so I would recommend prospective readers to reach for the other edition.
zbrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. And adaptation of his adult novel, this will definitely appeal to Readers who have a passion for food and a determination to succeed at some thing they put their minds to. This is definitely a book you don’t read when you’re hungry. All I kept thinking about was having the opportunity to try out some of the foods and recipes he talked about during the novel.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't watched Top Chef in years. So, I wasn't familiar with Onwuachi at all until I started reading this book.
And I found his memoir very engaging. I really loved the parts where he made decisions that changed the rest of his life.
I appreciated the honest depiction of microaggressions as Onwuachi experienced them. In school, in professional kitchens. It is sobering. But it is important to bring those things into the light.
I picked this up thinking I might take it out to schools. I still might, but probably just high schools. Most of the story happens when Onwuachi is making grown-up, career-level decisions.
It didn't change my sense that books that were originally written for adults and then get "adapted for young readers" don't truly become the kinds of books I'm looking for as I'm looking for books to promote to a wide student audience. I wonder what was edited out.
There were things that felt missing. Very little is said about how Onwuachi decided to do TV in the first place. His love life is only mentioned in a passing reference to a girlfriend very late in the book. Not sure if that's what got edited out in the Young Adult adaptation, or if those parts of his story are missing in the source material.
Pretty great!
And I found his memoir very engaging. I really loved the parts where he made decisions that changed the rest of his life.
I appreciated the honest depiction of microaggressions as Onwuachi experienced them. In school, in professional kitchens. It is sobering. But it is important to bring those things into the light.
I picked this up thinking I might take it out to schools. I still might, but probably just high schools. Most of the story happens when Onwuachi is making grown-up, career-level decisions.
It didn't change my sense that books that were originally written for adults and then get "adapted for young readers" don't truly become the kinds of books I'm looking for as I'm looking for books to promote to a wide student audience. I wonder what was edited out.
There were things that felt missing. Very little is said about how Onwuachi decided to do TV in the first place. His love life is only mentioned in a passing reference to a girlfriend very late in the book. Not sure if that's what got edited out in the Young Adult adaptation, or if those parts of his story are missing in the source material.
Pretty great!
ttavaras's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely enjoyed the story. The author gave us great insight into their life and journey and I felt seen.
giselley's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
melhara's review against another edition
3.0
2.5/5
I've never heard of celebrity chef [a:Kwame Onwuachi|18155468|Kwame Onwuachi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1577739075p2/18155468.jpg] or read the original version of the book before reading this book (the audiobook I listened to was adapted for young adults).
Onwuachi's journey to becoming a chef was interesting, and it's always great to see more diversity in the kitchens of fine dining establishments.
I'm not sure how much this book differs from the adult version, but I was hoping for more details and deeper reflection about Onwuachi's upbringing and culinary career.
The audiobook narrator's voice was also a bit monotonous and sad, so wouldn't really recommend the audiobook. Best to read the physical copy of the book.
***#11 of my 2021 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - Read a food memoir by an author of color ***
I've never heard of celebrity chef [a:Kwame Onwuachi|18155468|Kwame Onwuachi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1577739075p2/18155468.jpg] or read the original version of the book before reading this book (the audiobook I listened to was adapted for young adults).
Onwuachi's journey to becoming a chef was interesting, and it's always great to see more diversity in the kitchens of fine dining establishments.
I'm not sure how much this book differs from the adult version, but I was hoping for more details and deeper reflection about Onwuachi's upbringing and culinary career.
The audiobook narrator's voice was also a bit monotonous and sad, so wouldn't really recommend the audiobook. Best to read the physical copy of the book.
***#11 of my 2021 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - Read a food memoir by an author of color ***
z_brarian's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. And adaptation of his adult novel, this will definitely appeal to Readers who have a passion for food and a determination to succeed at some thing they put their minds to. This is definitely a book you don’t read when you’re hungry. All I kept thinking about was having the opportunity to try out some of the foods and recipes he talked about during the novel.