The Reach of a Chef: Professional Cooks in the Age of Celebrity

`The Reach of a Chef' is Michael Ruhlman's third major journalistic investigation into the world of American culinary practice and personalities and his tenth book, which includes four important cookbook collaborations, especially the highly successful collaborations with the philosopher-king of American cooking, Thomas Keller and the king of New York fish cookery, Eric Rippert.This book is a logical next step after his essays on culinary education, `The Making of a Chef', and basic levels of achievement in the American culinary universe, `The Soul of a Chef'. This investigation explores the techniques by which the successful chef / owner expands their reach beyond the single restaurant and turn their reputation into a marketable brand. An ancillary object of this essay is an examination of culinary celebrity.His primary subjects are virtually all the major stars of the American culinary scene, including Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Keller, Eric Rippert, Jean-George Vongerichten, Charlie Trotter, Jasper White, Daniel Boulud, Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Rick Bayless, Patrick O'Connell, Norm Van Aiken, Grant Achatz, Melissa Kelly, and Rachael Ray.The last name may not seem to fit into the same group as the others, and in some important ways, Rachael does not fit the mold that created Puck, Lagasse, Keller, Flay, and Batali. But, with regard to the matters addressed in this book, she is as much of an archetype as all the others. Like Martha Stewart before her, Rachael is turning her name into a BRAND based on accomplishment in the culinary world. Ruhlman even goes so far as to say that Rachael may be the first `brand' which has the impetus to overtake Martha at her own game.The bookend's for the book's presentation of its theme is an insider's look at the recent opening of Thomas Keller's New York fine dining restaurant, Per Se, on the fourth floor of the new Columbus Circle Time Warner center. If this book does nothing else, it reassures us that Keller's kind of devotion to quality is rewarded by both critical and commercial success. I won't keep you in suspense the way Ruhlman does, Per Se comes out of the gate with four shining stars from the all powerful restaurant reviewer of `The New York Times'. And, the highest score was not given grudgingly. The reviewer bewailed the fact that his last visit on which his review would be based would be his last time eating at Per Se for quite some time.Just as I always appreciate it when cookbook authors give fair mention to other cooks on which their work has been based, Ruhlman enhances the pleasure of his read by making several citations from fellow culinary journalists, all of whom are at the top of my list, with Ruhlman, of favorite foodie reads. Leading the pack is Tony Bourdain, a good friend of Ruhlman who, as Ruhlman puts it, is quite smitten with Thomas Keller's accomplishments. One merely has to read Bourdain's chapter on the French Laundry in `A Cook's Tour' to understand his abject hero worship. Close behind, in a very important role, is New York Times food columnist and editor, Amanda Hesser. Present as the model of restaurant critic extraordinare is Ruth Reichl, presently editor in chief of `Gourmet' magazine.The one thing Bourdain and Hesser have most in common is distaste for the style of Emeril Lagasse. Hesser's main claim to fame in Ruhlman's world is a long and very critical essay in `The New York Times' on Emeril Lagasse which dissected his TV show cooking in painful detail. Oddly, most of Emeril's harshest critics among his colleagues and culinary journalists seem to be softening. Part of this may be due to the fact that his popularity among his audience has peaked and may be falling off just a bit. Part of it may be due, as Norm Van Aiken has said, to the fact that Emeril is really a very talented chef and his restaurants are quite good, and Lagasse had to go through all the tough times that every other successful chef / owner had to face. It is certainly due in part to the fact that Lagasse in person is totally cordial, as when he warmly greeted Bourdain, his worst critic this side of Hesser at an affair. Ultimately, I believe Emeril's mellowing among his colleagues is due to the recognition that modern culinary TV has brought huge numbers of average Americans into the kitchen to enjoy cooking, and it is Emeril, not Julia Child who fostered this trend.The nature of the trend is even clearer when we examine the career and style of Rachael Ray, whose primary attribute is that of very effective culinary cheerleader. She essentially says that if anyone really wants to get into food TV, they should not be studying cooking, they should be studying TV journalism and production. To me, the most illuminating aspect of this trend is the fact that the thing I like most about Jamie Oliver's shows and books are the way he communicates a love of food and cooking without the hokey Americans' exclamations and neologisms.For those of us who really enjoy reading about the culinary world, this has been a red letter period, as bad boy Bourdain has also just come out with a new book, `The Nasty Bits' covering much the same ground, but from a much different perspective. Ruhlman, for example, does not confess to Bourdain's description of Ruhlman's staggering around a Las Vegas casino floor wanting a little cash advance from fellow journalist and roommate Bourdain.For those whose taste in culinary writing stops when the recipes disappear, this may not be for you, but for all who are really interested in what goes on behind the scenes, this book is for you. The only thing I missed was some discussion of Bob Kinkead's movement to support local instead of chain restaurants.

The author's obituary, when eventually written, will start "Michael Ruhlman, whose signature work  The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute  chronicled his time at the Culinary Institute of America..."That was a breakthrough book that essentially invented the genre of the 'meticulous examination' (as the 'Booklist' review calls it) of the chef as a profession. 'Reach' is Ruhlman's third in that series. He's really a great writer - as meticulous in his detail-gathering and writing as his chefs are in their cooking. You get to see that guys like Thomas Keller succeed not because of some fluke, but because of years of hard work, talent honed by that work and an obsession about details. Ruhlman's talent, in turn, is that he's able to convey that to his readers. The Newsday blurb on the book gets it right: "I'm sure [Ruhlman is] a pretty good cook himself, but I would urge him not to give up his day job, because he's a terrific writer."Exactly.You also get the feeling that chefs trust and open up to this author because he has their respect - he went through the Culinary Institute with the express purpose of writing the book that would become 'The Making of Chef.' Now that's a commitment. The results are some fine moments of introspection - Ruhlman notes that with enterprises the size of Keller's, "(t)he chef had moved out of the kitchen permanently. Or could, if he or she wanted to, and ultimately would have to, even if he or she didn't want to, simply from the physical limitations in a physically grueling job."Asked to comment on that, Keller wistfully notes "I miss the people. I'm sad. I miss being in the kitchen with them...I'm not a chef anymore and it breaks my heart."It's revelations like that one - superbly transcribed and framed by the author - that make 'Reach' such a compelling read.

We are in the midst of deep upheaval in American cooking. The Food Network, the explosion of cookbook publishing, the overnight blossoming of the culinary travel genre, and the celebrity chef phenomenon all mark our new interest in the culture of restaurant food, if not in food per se. The extent of this food-culture is startling. No longer is French cooking the domain of a few big-city Europeanized gourmands. It's everywhere. Heck, even some of the ten-year-old girls on the soccer team I coach spend water breaks yacking about their favorite food shows. My nine-year-old, when I asked what she wanted for supper recently, answered "Grand Aioli". It's downright nutty.So we should gratefully welcome cook/food-writer Michael Ruhlman's excellent new attempt to make sense of it all. He is almost uniquely situated in the celebrity-food world to give us a clear snapshot of what's going on. This book is a series of vignettes of the hectic lives and workplaces of an impressive list of chefs and food-show stars. Thomas Keller, Anthony Bourdain, Wolfgang Puck...even no-brow pom-pom girl Rachel Ray, among several others. Ruhlman's question to them is: what is your role? Haven't you left the kitchen now that you're on TV and being interviewed and promoting your books and traveling from coast to coast to open new restaurants? The answers are fascinating, and reveal more about the business of being a culinary star than any other book I've read. And what a strange, kinetic, exhausting, adrenalized world it is. I felt exhausted just reading about Thomas Keller's schedule.If you're curious about the explosion of the food culture, this is a great primer. It's well-written, anecdotal, entertaining, and riveting. I highly recommend it as summer reading whether you love food or simply love watching it on TV.

It's a good read for industry professionals