But Look At Them Now

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: David Chang (t), Jonathan Eismann(m) and Andrew Carmellini (b)

One of the great things about choosing a cooking career is that there are many ways to make it to the top. Some aspirants take the culinary school route, followed by a series of intern-like stages in the great kitchens of the world. Others opt for the school-of-hard-knocks approach, where the ability to talk your way into a job despite little or no experience— and then fake your way through it until you catch on—is key. Still others just have a knack for cooking, fall into the restaurant life and never look back.

Each of these approaches is on display in How I Learned To Cook (Bloomsbury, $24.95). It's a collection of 40 essays from top pros that has been ably edited and bundled together by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan. The book promises readers will learn how "The World's Greatest Chefs" got their start in the profession, and it mostly delivers.

The pitch to general readers is that they will be privy to more of the wild, behind-the-scene antics first brought to light in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. And, yes, we learn that catching a buzz before, during and after work was a common occurrence for many cooking greats included here. Fun stuff to know, but it obscures the inspirational content that makes this book so motivating for up-and-coming restaurant workers. The overall message here is that anyone can succeed, and that getting in over your head just might be the fastest way to do it.

Three things make this book of interest to a professional reader.

One is that it is so skillfully edited that almost every first-person essay comes across as well-structured and well-written, even though we doubt every chef contained herein put pen to paper him or herself.

Second is that you'll recognize that some of your own early goof-ups and failures are not necessarily unique to you. In fact, they've been experienced by industry titans, who still managed to rise above them and prosper.

For example, Ming Tsai finds himself trapped in a chocolate-making fiasco eerily similar to the famous one from "The Lucille Ball Show," only he's working at the legendary Fauchon in Paris when it occurs. Jonathan Eismann learns that a sous chef's role includes adapting his kitchen's prep and service scheme to the windows of productivity presented by his drugged-out crew. Andrew Carmellini flies to Italy for a cooking competition only to learn that the fix was in for somebody else.

Daniel Boulud takes the prize for most inauspicious debut, getting drunk in Paul Bocuse's kitchen as a visitor (at age 14!), then landing a job there later only to be run off for showing up with a bad hangover. Momofuku's David Chang travels to Tokyo to absorb everything he can about noodles, only to find he must buy a $2,200 sobacutting knife before being allowed to make noodles that are served to his master's customers.

Finally, these stories will give you faith that no matter what job you hold now, if you've got talent and aspire to greater things, you're working in an industry where greatness is open to you. As the heavyweights in this book point out, everyone gets humbled along the way. Overcoming the obstacles will get you what you want.