**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the chef behind Momofuku and star
of Netflix's Ugly Delicious--an intimate account of the making of a
chef, the story of the modern restaurant world that he helped shape, and
how he discovered that success can be much harder to understand than
failure.
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ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Fortune, Parade, The New
York Public Library, Garden & Gun
In 2004, Momofuku Noodle Bar opened in a tiny, stark space in
Manhattan's East Village. Its young chef-owner, David Chang, worked the
line, serving ramen and pork buns to a mix of fellow restaurant cooks
and confused diners whose idea of ramen was instant noodles in Styrofoam
cups. It would have been impossible to know it at the time--and
certainly Chang would have bet against himself--but he, who had failed
at almost every endeavor in his life, was about to become one of the
most influential chefs of his generation, driven by the question, "What
if the underground could become the mainstream?"
Chang grew up the youngest son of a deeply religious Korean American
family in Virginia. Graduating college aimless and depressed, he fled
the States for Japan, hoping to find some sense of belonging. While
teaching English in a backwater town, he experienced the highs of his
first full-blown manic episode, and began to think that the cooking and
sharing of food could give him both purpose and agency in his life.
Full of grace, candor, grit, and humor, Eat a Peach chronicles Chang's
switchback path. He lays bare his mistakes and wonders about his
extraordinary luck as he recounts the improbable series of events that
led him to the top of his profession. He wrestles with his lifelong
feelings of otherness and inadequacy, explores the mental illness that
almost killed him, and finds hope in the shared value of deliciousness.
Along the way, Chang gives us a penetrating look at restaurant life, in
which he balances his deep love for the kitchen with unflinching honesty
about the industry's history of brutishness and its uncertain
future.**
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