Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch

by Erin French

Overview

**New York Times Bestseller**

From Erin French, owner of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchen, a TIME world dining destination, a life-affirming memoir about survival, renewal, and finding a community to lift her up

Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad’s diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir—a classic American story—invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the “girl from Freedom” fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin’s life triumphant.

In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food—as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin’s experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250312341
Publisher:	Celadon Books
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	13,306
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Erin French is the owner and chef of The Lost Kitchen, a 40-seat restaurant in Freedom, Maine, that was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places and one of "12 Restaurants Worth Traveling Across the World to Experience" by Bloomberg. A born-and-raised native of Maine, she learned early the simple pleasures of thoughtful food and the importance of gathering for a meal. Her love of sharing Maine and its delicious heritage with curious dinner guests and new friends alike has garnered attention in outlets such as The New York Times (her piece was one of the ten most read articles in the food section the year it was published), Martha Stewart Living, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and Food & Wine. She has been invited to share her story on NPR’s All Things Considered, The Chew, CBS This Morning, and The Today Show. Erin was featured in a short film made by Tastemade in partnership with L. L. Bean, which won a James Beard Award, and The Lost Kitchen Cookbook has been named one of the best cookbooks by The Washington Post, Vogue.com, and Remodelista and was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Hope

1 Bacon and Ice Cream 3

2 Tapioca and Kittens 10

3 We Were Speeding; We Were Spoiled 19

4 Days, Nights, Years in a Diner 26

5 Memories of a Meatloaf 35

6 The Sound of Harleys 43

7 The Full Boar 49

Part 2 Unity

8 It Better Be Blue 57

9 Making a Mother 65

10 Singing for Our Supper 73

11 Sawdust and Shiny Floors 81

12 Amaranth and Fried Chicken 95

13 Vinalhaven 108

14 Layers of Angst 116

Part 3 Prospect

15 The Triangle Made of Bricks 123

16 The Clinking of Glasses, the Flicker of Candles 134

17 Physical, Mental, Emotional 141

18 Kicking, Clawing, Falling 150

19 Nineteen Steps 162

20 Seventy-two 175

21 Time to Go, Girl 182

Part 4 Liberty

22 A Gray Day in Maine 195

23 Who Saved Who? 201

24 To the Bat Cave 206

25 Bittersweet Breakup Brownies 215

26 Potholes and Pavement 224

Part 5 Freedom

27 Leaves of Three 243

28 Take Me Back 251

29 Starting from Scratch 256

30 Women of Waldo 262

31 The Awakening of a Woman 271

32 A House the Color of Strawberries 277

33 There's No Place Like Home 283

Acknowledgments 291

Editorial Reviews

03/29/2021

In this affecting debut memoir, chef French unflinchingly chronicles the victories and failures that led to her establishing The Lost Kitchen, her renowned restaurant in Freedom, Maine. She shares vivid memories of growing up in Freedom, whether foraging alongside her grandparents or enjoying hot fudge sundaes at her father’s diner. She artfully describes her growing passion for cooking, which began when she started helping out at the diner at age 12 and intensified after she dropped out of college due to an unplanned pregnancy. While waitressing as a single mom, she married the charming if troubled Tom, though the marriage predictably turned toxic: Tom had a drinking problem and was dismissive of French, and French was diagnosed with anxiety, was briefly committed to a psych ward, and got hooked on prescription drugs. During their messy divorce, French slowly began rebuilding her life with the help of her mother, friends, and food. Readers will root for French and will be fascinated by her efforts at survival, redemption, and rejuvenation. Notably heavier on insight and lighter on hubris than the average chef memoir, this will speak to both the brokenhearted and those with kitchen dreams of their own. Agent: Janis Donnaud, Janis Donnaud & Assoc. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"With extraordinary honesty and humor, Erin French's incredible memoir takes us on a profoundly personal journey through her highest highs and her lowest lows. It was her love of cooking and bringing people joy that gave her the strength to build the life she’d always dreamed of. I’ll never forget this book and neither will you."
—Ina Garten

“Erin is an overcomer and a risk-taker. She’s the kind of person who, when faced with a setback, pushes forward and makes beauty out of hardship. Her story is full of passion and courage, and when you read this book, you will walk away feeling inspired and encouraged in your own life.”
—Joanna Gaines, Co-Founder, Magnolia

"Erin French is a talented chef, a successful entrepreneur, a beautiful young woman, and a passionate promoter of living the 'good life.' This book chronicles the incredible ups, and relatable downs, of building a life and a business. Congratulations, Erin! You have done it!"
—Martha Stewart, Founder Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

"Women everywhere will respond to Finding Freedom, a story of the triumph of true passion against all odds. With grit, honesty, and lyrical writing, Erin French takes us on her journey: working the line at her father’s diner, surviving addiction, toxic relationships, raising her son as a single mother, to finally re-inventing herself as a renowned chef and restaurateur. Finding Freedom is a wild ride, one you won’t soon forget."
—Stephanie Danler, bestselling author of Sweetbitter and Stray

"Erin and I grew up in very different kitchens (an American diner; Chez Panisse), but I recognized so much in her experience: the intimacy and immediacy of a restaurant-as-second-home; the sounds and smells of cooking; the pleasure of bringing joy to people through food. Erin's story is a gritty, sensuous, honest story of finding her own path—with the pursuit of good food as her bellwether."
—Fanny Singer, author of Always Home

"Think “Wild” with whisks and buttery mashed potatoes instead of hiking boots and breathtaking views."
—New York Times Book Review, "Inside the List"

"Engaging stories from the kitchen and beyond... A canny life story from a determined woman with the gift of vision and the wherewithal to implement it."
—STARRED Kirkus Review

"Readers will root for French and will be fascinated by her efforts at survival, redemption, and rejuvenation. Notably heavier on insight and lighter on hubris than the average chef memoir, this will speak to both the brokenhearted and those with kitchen dreams of their own."
—Publishers Weekly

“Ms. French tells a courageous story without sentimentality or self-pity. She has a sense of humor, an eye for detail and knows how to build tension. But what impresses me most about this book is her evocative writing about food. She describes it so well you can taste it.”
—Wall Street Journal

"French chronicles her struggles, failures and triumphs in a lyrically written new memoir, 'Finding Freedom'...[a] compelling, authentic tale of grit and determination"
—Associated Press

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2021

French, owner of the highly regarded Lost Kitchen Restaurant in a small Maine town called Freedom, candidly writes about becoming a successful chef and mother. The author takes us out of the kitchen to draw a picture of her growth and evolution into a personally and professionally successful woman in small-town New England. French's life is not all smooth sailing; a childhood of searching for parental approval while helping out in the family diner takes a sharp turn when French finds herself pregnant as a young woman. The next several years are punctuated by both successes and failures, culminating in a challenging struggle with addiction and overcoming the effects of a toxic marriage. The writing is frank and, particularly when related to her struggle to regain custody of her son, heart-wrenching. The redemptive arc of the final chapters is satisfying and will leave readers wanting to know more about the author's life and the band of restaurant workers she has brought together. VERDICT Openly sharing insight on overcoming difficult family dynamics and on struggling with addiction, French has written a standout chef memoir that will have readers turning the pages.—Rebecca Brody, Westfield State Univ., MA

Library Journal

★ 2021-01-22
An acclaimed chef and restaurateur offers engaging stories from the kitchen and beyond.

In this immersive memoir, French delves into her life so far, covering the twists, turns, successes, and failures that led to her successful career as the owner and head chef of the much-lauded Lost Kitchen in the tiny town of Freedom, Maine. Though this is her first book of narrative nonfiction (following her 2017 cookbook), French demonstrates her talents as a storyteller, whether she’s discussing her early cooking career, which she spent managing the fryolator, serving clam baskets, and producing perfect soft-serve ice cream cones at her father’s diner; recounting a childhood replete with bucolic wonder (“I spent countless summer days from breakfast until dinner running wild through the seemingly endless pastures and wilderness”); or delineating her struggles as an adult. The harrowing details of her first marriage—her alcoholic husband eventually became abusive, and she lost herself in pill addiction—add palpable tension to her story, as do the scenes set in an “all-female rehab facility.” Despite these hardships, French refreshingly avoids unnecessary self-pity or sentimentality, and the life-affirming details are just as strong: The author notes her love of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Stevie Nicks, and the “Cape Verdean jazz” of Cesária Évora, and she shares an amusing tale about baking pot brownies and getting “high for the first time of my life” at age 33. Also relatable are her accounts of tussles and reconciliations with her sister. From a secret, at-home supper club and an early iteration of the Lost Kitchen, the author stays on point in her evocative portrayal of the importance of food in her life. “As a girl,” she writes, “I had learned from my father that good food could be a vessel, a way to show love, even when you might not have the words to say so.”

A canny life story from a determined woman with the gift of vision and the wherewithal to implement it.

Kirkus Reviews