An excerpt from Shuna's most excellent answer to "Why is being a chef interesting?" Why is being a chef interesting? Because when you're a chef life is never dull. Someone is always calling in sick from jail. The dishwasher is constantly breaking. Customers fight in the dining room. Or pass out. New fruits and vegetables are always arriving at the farmer's markets. Ovens catch on fire. Managers have sex in walk-ins. People misunderstand each other in broken Spanglish. Cooks stab each other. Cooks cut off bodily parts in meat saws. People dine with their mistresses. Tempers run hot. No body has a life. General managers are constantly being sent to detox centers. Chefs line up for knee and hip... More

"Cooking is the most massive rush. It's like having the most amazing hard on, with Viagra sprinkled on top of it, and it's still there twelve hours later." From Bill Buford's brilliant, enormously entertaining book Heat, a quote from the irrepressible Gordon Ramsay.... More

The New York Times food section was full of interesting, fun and thought-provoking stuff this morning, but for me the most mouthwatering (and poignant) story was on page 3. There Kim Severson reported on the Edna Lewis memorial dinner, held this past Sunday in Atlanta. Edna Lewis was, as Kim described her, "an icon of Southern cooking." Although she was born in Virginia and lived out her life in Atlanta, New Yorkers were graced by her presence and cooking skill for many years, first at Cafe Nicholson and then at Gage and Tollner. I recall eating her food many times, first at Gage and Tollner and later at the City Meals on Wheels benefits at the skating rink at... More