I don’t read a lot of memoir, especially not memoir from celebrities I don’t really know anything about. But this memoir from a former Top Chef contestant gave me an intriguing inside look at what it’s like to overcome myriad obstacles on a climb to the top on the American culinary scene.
This memoir charts the story of Kwame Onwuachi, an American chef of Nigerian origin who grows up in New York in a working class family. He holds no punches as he details his story, growing up with an abusive father and a loving mother, getting into trouble and finding himself exiled to live with his grandfather in Nigeria as a teen. He nevertheless works doggedly to gain entry, at long last, on the fine dining scene.
Some parts of this memoir, from Onwuachi’s financial struggle to his earnest desire to break free of stereotypes of Black and Nigerian cooking in favor of the world of fine dining, are particularly resonant. He doesn’t claim to have all the answers, and he details his failures as much as his successes (though I’ll admit, he seems happy to take credit for the latter while foisting blame on others for the former).
Other elements of this book, however, make the narrator difficult to empathize with. Is this a case of an egocentric chef or merely a writer too young to have distance from his own story? I’m not sure, but either way, the book occasionally lacks depth and perspective. It is nevertheless a quick, enjoyable read and certainly interesting enough for those who want to know more about a climb to the top in the American culinary world.