Smart Chefs Stay Slim-Lessons in Eating and Living from America's Best Chefs is the June book for the Kitchen Reader Book Club. This book was chosen by Aileen of 300 Threads.
I 'm sending out a huge "Thank You" to Aileen for choosing this book! What a delicious and pleasant summer read. I devoured this book while flying to and from Boston.
Author, Allison Adato, delves into the mystery of how chefs eat and how they feed their families. In this age of cooking blogs, the Food Network and celebrity chefs, we all can see how difficult it might be for a chef to stay thin and healthy.
Allison develops her interviews into a number of lessons for the reader. We see how these popular chefs remain thin, lose weight, work out or not while working daily with food and recipe testing. And, I simply love the fact that so many chefs feel that a daily bite of dark chocolate is a must. I agree! Don't you?
I have always wondered how chefs who have families feed their loved ones. Since restaurant cooking occurs during most family evening-meal time, several of the chefs made it a point to share that they have breakfast with their children or spend quality time on the week-ends in the kitchen with their families. Other chefs cook little and rely on a few high protein, quality "go-to" meals while eating at home.
For me, the bottom line is that these chefs are human. They struggle with weight. They believe eating healthy is a must. Most feel the need to incorporate exercise in some way. They want a connection with their families and friends regardless of their often crazy work hours. They are human and this book is a great way to catch a glimpse into the lives of how these chefs deal with food on a very personal level.
I do love a little bite of dark chocolate after dinner. And I have learned to like coffee without the syrups. As Adato said: "No flavoured coffees; coffee is a flavour." Haha! I'm glad you enjoyed the book. It was a really enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteI, too, really enjoyed the very "real" window into the chefs' lives, especially how they manage to spend time with their families. Makes me want to sit down with my son for breakfast rather than throwing a smoothie in the blender and rushing out the door!
ReplyDeleteI´m a big fan of a little dark chocolate every now and then. And as a picky coffee drinker, no syrups for me, just the wonderful and perfect coffee flavor.
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