Super Chef : The Making of the Great Modern Restaurant Empires

Rating:
Summary: Super Chef is a treasure
Review: .
Dear Fellow Readers,

I was about to share my joy after reading Super Chef when I read the review by Publishers Weekly on this Amazon.com webpage. I am compelled to reply to that review before posting my own (be sure to read my own review, below, too!):

IN REPLY TO THE PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY REVIEW:

1) Ms. Rossant clearly defines the parameters of a "super chef," had the PW reviewer either read the book carefully or cheated and gone straight to the excerpt conveniently available online at Simon & Schuster: "A number of ingredients go into making Super Chefs. Their businesses reach geographically outside one city and beyond restaurants into other businesses. They are celebrated for their cooking talents and bedazzling, media-savvy ways. They manage large businesses, building brand names and personal wealth unheard of before among chefs. Their business empires are enduring." This definition distinguishes "super chef" from "celebrity chef" which lacks the "empire" dimension so important to Ms. Rossant (and included in the subtitle of the book, which, again, the PW reviewer seems to have missed).

2) Ms. Rossant makes important observations about branding, particularly a fascinating comparison with super athletes like Michael Jordan and the success of TV in chef mass branding. Of course, had the PW reviewer read on, he/she would have discovered even more illuminating observations about impact of super chefs on the restaurant industry.

3) Ms. Rossant handles the Colicchio-Meyer dispute admirably -- perhaps the PW reviewer did not find enough sensationalism? The fact is that both Colicchio and Meyer went out of their way to avoid a messy divorce, and that is exactly what they achieved and what Ms. Rossant reports -- kudos for a restrained yet engaging account of the break-up of the Lennon and McCartney of New York restaurants.

4) First-name usage of the super chefs conveyed immediacy and pulled the reader deeper into the book. Surnames are distant -- nor does first-name usage imply "coziness" -- unless the PW reviewer is agreeing that Ms. Rossant is deeply familiar with her subjects and therefore truly an expert. From Ms. Rossant's official website (just Google her name), she must have spent many months if not years writing Super Chef, not to mention years on the Celebrity Chef column for Forbes, so she should be intimately familiar with her subjects. Then again, perhaps the PW reviewer did not read any biographical information about Ms. Rossant, too?

5) Usage of "some" and other terminology is most likely to protect sources in a very close, personal industry, so that no judgement (or anger) is visited upon them -- perhaps the PW reviewer is too inexperienced in non-fiction research and writing to consider this? Or, is the PW reviewer challenging Ms. Rossant's sources? If so, the PW reviewer should have the courage to make the challenge more directly. Or, perhaps the PW reviewer is too young or forgetful to remember Woodward & Bernstein's All the President's Men? Thanks to such discretion, Woodward (for one) has been able to continue write well researched books such as the current bestseller Plan of Attack.

In sum, PW reviewer, please read CAREFULLY before you pass judgement. I reckon that you owe Ms. Rossant a deep and very public apology: failure to comply will be read by _this_ reviewer as malice (or incompetence -- take your pick).

AND NOW TO MY OWN, VERY POSITIVE REVIEW:

Super Chef is a delightful book that defies easy classification. It is not a cookbook, though food is a basic ingredient and dishes are described. It is a not a traditional business book that covers issues in a plodding, textbook fashion. It parades celebrities but avoids gossip. "Biography of celebrities that focuses on business issues" is a bit dry as a description. I like the term "business adventures" used in the book's publicity, but Ms. Rossant says best in her author's note: "I had the the pleasure of hearing their tales, and it is their wonder and adventure that I have tried to impart in this book, rather than focus on hot food or cold commerce." Well said, indeed!

The "snapshots" of super chefs which open each profile chapter are fun and surprising (I won't spoil them for you) and make them come alive, so that the reader hungrily devours the rest of each chapter for the background to these surprising pictures. As a reward, the reader finds a dessert of a second snapshot or intimate interview or keen observations.

I feel like I have walked with these super chefs through their careers -- in busy kitchens, in tough negotiating rooms, and under hot TV spotlights. I feel like I know and appreciate Wolfgang, Charlie, Todd, Mary Sue and Susan, and Tom. Some I liked more than others, but I wanted to get to know them all. Thanks to Ms. Rossant, I have been on the "cutting edge" with each of them -- an edge that cuts both ways, sometimes pleasurably, sometimes painfully.

Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation put readers behind-the-scenes but was dark and terrifying. Tony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential tells wild tales of a self-confessed, self-destructive chef cum gifted writer. Patric Kuh's Last Days of Haute Cuisine describes the world of great American restaurateurs. Ms. Rossant's Super Chef takes off right where Jacques Pepin leaves off in his excellent new autobiography The Apprentice. Pepin (like Andre Soltner, an important figure in Super Chef) is one of the last "traditional chefs" (though of course he is partly a "super chef" according to Ms. Rossant's definition), and reading The Apprentice followed by Super Chef makes for some of the best reading I can possibly recommend. In fact, I was delighted to find that Ms. Rossant makes one of her most acute conclusions by starting with a long quote from Pepin himself. The Apprentice and Super Chef are my Christmas and birthday presents for the next few years to everyone I love, epiphany-feasts for the mind and heart.
.

Rating:
Summary: top of my list
Review: .
Super Chef by Juliette Rossant is real find for all of us who love food (and who doesn't?) It's fun, informative and no calories! It makes the top of my list for gifts from a good summer read into the holidays.
.
Write on, Ms. Rossant!
.

Rating:
Summary: super book!
Review: I'm what you call a foodie, but I was never that interested in the business side of fine cuisine...until I picked up Rossant's book. After reading it, I finally understood that people like Puck and the others profiled in its pages really transformed the way we eat in restaurants across the country and at home, too. The entertaining anecdotes on the super chefs reveal just how tenuous success is in the wacky restaurant world, and how passionate and motivated these men and women (especially the women!) must be to become stars. I found it more fascinating than to read about a basketball superstar or a movie heart throb. I especially like the introduction, which narrates the story of influential chefs from the 17th century on. It's clear, easy to absorb, and really makes sense of how haute cuisine came to this country. A page-turner.

Rating:
Summary: surprisingly entertaining read!
Review: I'm what you call a foodie, but I was never that interested in the business side of fine cuisine...until I picked up Rossant's book. After reading it, I finally understood that people like Puck and the others profiled in its pages really transformed the way we eat in restaurants across the country and at home, too. The entertaining anecdotes on the super chefs reveal just how tenuous success is in the wacky restaurant world, and how passionate and motivated these men and women (especially the women!) must be to become stars. I found it more fascinating than to read about a basketball superstar or a movie heart throb. I especially like the introduction, which narrates the story of influential chefs from the 17th century on. It's clear, easy to absorb, and really makes sense of how haute cuisine came to this country. A page-turner.

Rating:
Summary: Studies in Food Business. Good Read. No Food Talk
Review: Juliette Rossant, a business and travel journalist who also writes about the food business writes 'Super Chef'. And, this is entirely a book about business, business people, and food people rather than a book about food. While it is good journalism, it has little in common with the culinary journalism of Michael Ruhlman, Robb Walsh, or Calvin Trillin.

The subject of the book is the business careers of five restaurateurs and talented chefs who have been successful in starting and running at least two different restaurants. The subtitle is 'The Making of the Great Modern Restaurant Empires' which brings to mind Emeril Lagasse, Jean George Vongerichten, Nobu Matsuhisa, Daniel Boulud, and Mario Batali, all of which are known as great chefs who have opened several different haute cuisine restaurants in major venues. Three of the five chefs featured in the book, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Palmer, and Todd English, certainly belong to this group, but two, Tom Colicchio and the team of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, seem somewhat out of place.

Wolfgang Puck is by far and away the poster boy for the American Super Chef prototype. More than any other, he has turned his name into a brand. The fact that no one except Emeril Lagasse even comes close to Puck's celebrity is simply a measure of how clearly he stands out from the crowd. His business concerns include a 'fine dining' company with its flagship Spago restaurants, a 'fast casual' company with restaurants in the mold of Chilis and Bennigans, a foods marketer handling his trademark frozen pizzas and other foods, a line of cookware Wolfgang hawks on QVC, a series of cookbooks, and headlining appearances on Food Network shows and specials such as the 'Master Iron Chef' series of shows. Last but by far not least is his Hollywood catering gigs where he wines and dines the Academy Awards celebrants and other high profile events. Since Wolfgang's career is so visible, it is easy to verify some of the author's impressions of Puck against other appearances.

Two things about Puck are well known and are echoed in this book. The first is his great modesty in the face of a backbreaking schedule that can turn less well-tempered people into people whose company you simply do not want to share. Watching any Puck appearance on TV in a quiet atmosphere can see this. The second is his great skill under pressure. On the Food Network 'Master Iron Chef' segment where Puck was competing against Masaharu Morimoto, Puck's dishes were so clearly better at using the theme ingredient that the competition didn't even seem fair. Other evidence is his behavior on specials about the Oscar catering gigs where his assistants comment that Puck seems to have ice water in his veins, as he simply never looses his cool while standing back and letting his team get the job done.

The truly odd thing about the forty-two (42) pages about Wolfgang Puck in this book is that I recall but a single sentence about his cooking, where the author offers the opinion that Puck is not a great chef, but he is very good. The book says as much about Lagasse's cooking talent, and Emeril is not even the subject of the book.

The book says much more about contracts, leases, locations, and partnerships, and the extent to which these things take the empire building chef away from the kitchen. I really regret that Daniel Boulud was not a featured subject in the book, as he is one of the very few chefs I know have written on the challenges of switching from cooking to creating a chain of high end dining restaurants. The author accurately reflects Boulud's observation that one needs a very different set of skills to pull this off. The author's main contribution to this insight is that the chef who does it must, like Wolfgang, have and maintain a relatively pleasing personality in order to build up a team of people who are willing to stay with you and embrace your vision and level of food and service quality.

In spite of the very large cast of characters, the book gets close to none of the supporting characters and does not get very close to the featured chefs. One of the most revealing anecdotes was the encounter between Charlie Palmer's Las Vegas employee Andrew Bradbury and a very tired and pallid Microsoft founder Bill Gates where Gates took an unexpected half hour quizzing Bradbury on how the sommelier planned to use Microsoft products in selecting wines at Palmer's Mandalay Bay Aureole restaurant.

One story which shows just how much a restaurateur changes from chef to businessman when they open multiple restaurants is the fact that Charlie Palmer spends a lot of time and energy setting cost thresholds for food purchases at his various restaurants, varying levels to meet local conditions, cuisine, and clientele. This immediately illuminates some of Rocco DiSpirito's weaknesses as a restaurateur when he seemed to ignore both the kitchen and the books at Rocco's on 22nd, as seen in the second 'The Restaurant' series.

This book is a good read whether you are interested in business or in restaurants. If your interest disappears if there has been no mention of garlic in the last two pages, this may not be the book for you. On the other hand, if you really like all aspects of the food business, you will get a major dose from this book. You will find it especially revealing if you have the slightest interest in going into the food business. The chapters on the two girls and Colicchio are interesting, even if they don't fit the book's premise as well as Puck, Palmer, and English.

I almost wish the author would do a book featuring the non-chef restaurateurs who have, for example partnered with DiSpirito in New York and Morimoto in Philadelphia. Recommended reading.

Rating:
Summary: Studies in Food Business. Good Read. No Food Talk
Review: Juliette Rossant, a business and travel journalist who also writes about the food business writes `Super Chef'. And, this is entirely a book about business, business people, and food people rather than a book about food. While it is good journalism, it has little in common with the culinary journalism of Michael Ruhlman, Robb Walsh, or Calvin Trillin.

The subject of the book is the business careers of five restaurateurs and talented chefs who have been successful in starting and running at least two different restaurants. The subtitle is `The Making of the Great Modern Restaurant Empires' which brings to mind Emeril Lagasse, Jean George Vongerichten, Nobu Matsuhisa, Daniel Boulud, and Mario Batali, all of which are known as great chefs who have opened several different haute cuisine restaurants in major venues. Three of the five chefs featured in the book, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Palmer, and Todd English, certainly belong to this group, but two, Tom Colicchio and the team of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, seem somewhat out of place.

Wolfgang Puck is by far and away the poster boy for the American Super Chef prototype. More than any other, he has turned his name into a brand. The fact that no one except Emeril Lagasse even comes close to Puck's celebrity is simply a measure of how clearly he stands out from the crowd. His business concerns include a `fine dining' company with its flagship Spago restaurants, a `fast casual' company with restaurants in the mold of Chilis and Bennigans, a foods marketer handling his trademark frozen pizzas and other foods, a line of cookware Wolfgang hawks on QVC, a series of cookbooks, and headlining appearances on Food Network shows and specials such as the `Master Iron Chef' series of shows. Last but by far not least is his Hollywood catering gigs where he wines and dines the Academy Awards celebrants and other high profile events. Since Wolfgang's career is so visible, it is easy to verify some of the author's impressions of Puck against other appearances.

Two things about Puck are well known and are echoed in this book. The first is his great modesty in the face of a backbreaking schedule that can turn less well-tempered people into people whose company you simply do not want to share. Watching any Puck appearance on TV in a quiet atmosphere can see this. The second is his great skill under pressure. On the Food Network `Master Iron Chef' segment where Puck was competing against Masaharu Morimoto, Puck's dishes were so clearly better at using the theme ingredient that the competition didn't even seem fair. Other evidence is his behavior on specials about the Oscar catering gigs where his assistants comment that Puck seems to have ice water in his veins, as he simply never looses his cool while standing back and letting his team get the job done.

The truly odd thing about the forty-two (42) pages about Wolfgang Puck in this book is that I recall but a single sentence about his cooking, where the author offers the opinion that Puck is not a great chef, but he is very good. The book says as much about Lagasse's cooking talent, and Emeril is not even the subject of the book.

The book says much more about contracts, leases, locations, and partnerships, and the extent to which these things take the empire building chef away from the kitchen. I really regret that Daniel Boulud was not a featured subject in the book, as he is one of the very few chefs I know have written on the challenges of switching from cooking to creating a chain of high end dining restaurants. The author accurately reflects Boulud's observation that one needs a very different set of skills to pull this off. The author's main contribution to this insight is that the chef who does it must, like Wolfgang, have and maintain a relatively pleasing personality in order to build up a team of people who are willing to stay with you and embrace your vision and level of food and service quality.

In spite of the very large cast of characters, the book gets close to none of the supporting characters and does not get very close to the featured chefs. One of the most revealing anecdotes was the encounter between Charlie Palmer's Las Vegas employee Andrew Bradbury and a very tired and pallid Microsoft founder Bill Gates where Gates took an unexpected half hour quizzing Bradbury on how the sommelier planned to use Microsoft products in selecting wines at Palmer's Mandalay Bay Aureole restaurant.

One story which shows just how much a restaurateur changes from chef to businessman when they open multiple restaurants is the fact that Charlie Palmer spends a lot of time and energy setting cost thresholds for food purchases at his various restaurants, varying levels to meet local conditions, cuisine, and clientele. This immediately illuminates some of Rocco DiSpirito's weaknesses as a restaurateur when he seemed to ignore both the kitchen and the books at Rocco's on 22nd, as seen in the second `The Restaurant' series.

This book is a good read whether you are interested in business or in restaurants. If your interest disappears if there has been no mention of garlic in the last two pages, this may not be the book for you. On the other hand, if you really like all aspects of the food business, you will get a major dose from this book. You will find it especially revealing if you have the slightest interest in going into the food business. The chapters on the two girls and Colicchio are interesting, even if they don't fit the book's premise as well as Puck, Palmer, and English.

I almost wish the author would do a book featuring the non-chef restaurateurs who have, for example partnered with DiSpirito in New York and Morimoto in Philadelphia. Recommended reading.

Rating:
Summary: super book!
Review: The author uses a wealth of detail to give real insight into the personalities of super chefs and the key to their success. A fascinating and entertaining read!