Perhaps the definitive Midwest drunken-lesbian food memoir.”
—Kim Severson, The New York Times
"Remarkable... Burn the Place is a 'chef memoir' only in the sense that the author turned out to be a chef. More rightly, it belongs on a shelf with the great memoirs of addiction, of gender ambivalence and queer coming-of-age, of the grand disillusionment that comes from revisiting, as a clear-eyed adult, the deceptive perfection of childhood."
—The New Yorker
“This raw and emotional memoir testifies to the power of persistence and grit. With vivid description, we explore Regan’s almost inborn connection to food and the earth, her rise as a queer woman in a male dominated industry, and her journey to sobriety.”
—Real Simple
"Regan is a compelling narrator, serving up her life story with the same ease, deftness, and creativity she seems to apply to her cooking."
—The Atlantic
“With this deeply personal work, Iliana reminds us that there is great strength in vulnerability. Her story is one of resilience, determination, and vision.”
—René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma
"Regan's story is a memorable tale, with prose that deeply conveys the resilience and intensity she needed to find her undeniable success. Burn the Place will serve as inspiration for those in and outside of the kitchen."
—Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin
"Iliana's perspective is honest and unprocessed and speaks true to her own experiences. Burn the PLace takes us through the incredible events that shaped her identity as a person and a chef. Iliana is one of the best chefs I've ever known."
—David Chang, chef and founder of Momofuku
“Regan writes the way she cooks: with a voice that’s bold and soulful, tender and tough, impossible to ignore, and utterly her own. Burn the Place is much more than an account of hustling in the kitchen. It’s a story about identity and addiction. It’s about getting creative and becoming a boss.”
—Jeff Gordinier, author of Hungry
“What bold new voice is this? Unexpected, flavorful, and distinctive, Burn the Place is a debut to savor.”
—Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs
A singular, powerfully expressive debut memoir that traces one chef's struggle to find her place and what happens once she does
Burn the Place is a galvanizing culinary memoir that chronicles Iliana Regan's journey from foraging on the family farm to opening her Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth. Her story is alive with startling imagery, raw like that first bite of wild onion, and told with uncommon emotional power. It's a sure bet to be one of the most important new memoirs of 2019.
Regan grew up the youngest of four headstrong girls on a small farm in Northwest Indiana. Even when she was picking raspberries as a toddler still in diapers, Regan understood to pick only the ripe fruit and leave the rest for another day. In the family's leaf-strewn fields, the orange flutes of chanterelles seemed to beckon her, while they eluded others.
Regan has always had an intense, almost otherworldly connection with food and earth. Connecting with people, however, has always been harder. As she learned to cook in the farmhouse, got her first job in a professional kitchen at age fifteen, taught herself cutting-edge cuisine while running her “new forager” underground supper club, and worked her way from front-of-house staff to running her own kitchen, Regan often felt that she “wasn't made for this world.” She was a little girl who longed to be a boy, gay in an intolerant community, an alcoholic before she turned twenty, a woman in an industry dominated by men.
Burn the Place will introduce listeners to an important new voice from the American culinary scene, an underrepresented perspective from the professional kitchen, and a young star chef whose prose is as memorable and deserving of praise as her food.
A singular, powerfully expressive debut memoir that traces one chef's struggle to find her place and what happens once she does
Burn the Place is a galvanizing culinary memoir that chronicles Iliana Regan's journey from foraging on the family farm to opening her Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth. Her story is alive with startling imagery, raw like that first bite of wild onion, and told with uncommon emotional power. It's a sure bet to be one of the most important new memoirs of 2019.
Regan grew up the youngest of four headstrong girls on a small farm in Northwest Indiana. Even when she was picking raspberries as a toddler still in diapers, Regan understood to pick only the ripe fruit and leave the rest for another day. In the family's leaf-strewn fields, the orange flutes of chanterelles seemed to beckon her, while they eluded others.
Regan has always had an intense, almost otherworldly connection with food and earth. Connecting with people, however, has always been harder. As she learned to cook in the farmhouse, got her first job in a professional kitchen at age fifteen, taught herself cutting-edge cuisine while running her “new forager” underground supper club, and worked her way from front-of-house staff to running her own kitchen, Regan often felt that she “wasn't made for this world.” She was a little girl who longed to be a boy, gay in an intolerant community, an alcoholic before she turned twenty, a woman in an industry dominated by men.
Burn the Place will introduce listeners to an important new voice from the American culinary scene, an underrepresented perspective from the professional kitchen, and a young star chef whose prose is as memorable and deserving of praise as her food.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169779080 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 07/16/2019 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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