November 11, 2013
In this rambunctious memoir, celebrity chef Van Aken (My Key West Kitchen) charts his unlikely path from smalltown Midwestern free spirit to ‘Fusion’ cuisine trailblazer. After a shaky, name-dropping intro, Van Aken narrates his bohemian wanderings at the end of the flower-power era, wanderings that led him to the melodious environs of Key West. As Van Aken struggles through one miserable blue-collar job after another—landscaper, hot-tar roofer—he determines that cooking is his least horrible option. From there, his sweaty rise to the apogee of his profession is both unlikely and appealing. In diffuse but vivid prose, Van Aken’s narrative speeds through restaurants, anecdotes, and oddball characters. Each chapter ends with a flourish: a recipe from a particular stage of his career. The strongest and most honest writing, by far, involves his earlier years as he struggles to master his craft. The latter third of the book blurs into anecdotes of gluttonous feasting and his restaurant openings (and closings). For legal reasons, perhaps, Van Aken skims over the financial problems and personality clashes that would have deepened his narrative. Nevertheless, the book contains much of the freedom and generosity of the era that created him. Van Aken has crafted an unlikely tale of a hippie kid who helped raise Margaritaville to a culinary destination.
January 1, 2014
One man's journey from short-order cook to acclaimed chef. As Van Aken (My Key West Kitchen: Recipes and Stories, 2012, etc.) readily admits in his delightful, oftentimes laugh-out-loud memoir, his journey into the life of restaurant cooking occurred by happenstance: He needed a job, and a diner needed a cook, no experience necessary. What unfolded over a 20-plus-year span was the slow maturation of a teen into a man and of a clumsy and untrained novice into a chef who rode the edge of the New American cuisine wave as it broke on the shores of America. From Illinois to Key West, Van Aken takes readers behind the scenes and deep into the hearts of the restaurants for which he worked, where the kitchen life was energized, hectic and often swelteringly hot. With no formal schooling in the culinary arts, the author watched like a hawk, asked numerous questions and read cookbooks by some of the best chefs in the world while learning the ins and outs of French cuisine, ethnic Latin American, Italian and Japanese foods, as well as the new fusion style of American cooking. At first, however, he did it all with a certain amount of reluctance, as he writes: "A kitchen job again? Oh my God! What crimes did I do in a former life to merit this role again?" Nicely intertwined with the fast-paced antics of the kitchen are Van Aken's reflections on his romantic life with his wife and son. The author pays homage to the many chefs who influenced him in his career and recounts moments with some of the greats, like Julia Child, Charlie Trotter and Emeril Lagasse. As an added bonus, Van Aken includes a wide variety of recipes mentioned in the text. A lively romp into the frenetic life of a significant American chef.
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Starred review from October 15, 2013
Cookbook author, award-winning chef, and restaurant owner Van Aken (Feast of Sunlight; The Exotic Fruit Book) details his journey from Diamond Lake, IL, to Key West, FL, and back again in this entertaining memoir. He guides the reader through his early years as a cook and, later, a chef, in what feels like a conversation around the hot line on a slow night, with a bit of gin in a mug. (Don't end up wearing the sauce, though.) Van Aken's relaxed tone will draw in readers, and colorful language abounds (one memorable chapter is titled "Shit Happens"). He hilariously describes an intriguing cast of characters, including a sprinkling of celebrity chefs in their early years and the unusual figures that populated a wild Key West and even a not-so-wild Illinois. Each chapter concludes with a recipe (e.g., "Flame on Shish Kabob," "Bicycle Sammy's Potato Salad"). VERDICT Those who love food, food culture, South Florida, and biographies will enjoy this romp through the 1970s and 1980s as Van Aken evolves from entry-level cook to a famous chef, with many stops in between.--Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland
Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
December 1, 2013
This is not your mother's cookbook, and it's not truly a cookbook, at that, although recipes are slapped in as palate cleansers between restaurant-themed chapters detailing chef and cookbook author Van Aken's escapades. Yet this might just be the book to hand to nearly every raffish, wanna-be-something male in sighta rowdy, fist-pumped-in-the-air memoir of a guy who found his way chopping, dicing, and wreaking havoc. Van Aken's story starts in the 1970s, so there's hitchhiking, Volkswagens needing push starts, and fired-up grills (and girls) around every corner. Though his kitchen mates tend to serve f-bombs with every meal, Van Aken seems like a pretty good guy, gamely trying his hand at many non-food-related jobs, marrying the young lady he truly loved, and his enthusiasm for his life is evident in every exclamation point. Like Forrest Gump with a carving knife, the chef serves up tales of hearing Jimmy Buffett in a little Key West dive, partying at Tennessee Williams' house, and more, all in an era before celebrity chefs truly sprouted. Come and get it while it's hotbad language, good times, fine dining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)