Food, Sex, Wine And Cigars A Memoir [Hardcover]

Lisa was a big part of L'Orangerie's success, compliments from Johnny Carson to Catherine Deneuve and everyone else in between. - Latifa Franco, award-winning chef Our careers have taken us in very different directions, but she was my mentor and inspiration from the start, so I guess it seemed fitting to write this and express my love and appreciation. Lisa is a woman who broke many molds in the culinary industry, forging a path for up-and-coming female chefs during an era of male-dominated kitchens. She displayed power and grace, both paired with a unique palate and attention to details. She was everything I wanted to be. - Carol Wallack of Sola, named Best New Restaurant in Chicago, and one of Chicago's Best Chefs My memoir spans the first twelve years of my life as a professional chef. I was living in hell from September 1980 until 1993, facing many unforeseen challenges in every aspect of my life. I planned on making this a cookbook twenty-two years ago. Then one day in 2011, it came to me that it needed to be a memoir, so I just sat down and wrote. While writing this book, I found myself craving to feel hungry again, and with that came misery. The old habits of anorexia truly never leave. They linger around waiting for the chance to pounce again. I think that both my parents being artists of sorts gave me an interesting view of life. We were totally allowed our freedom and they gave us their trust. As I was being rushed to the hospital staring at three of my severed fingers floating in ice water, I couldn't believe what just happened. At age twenty-four, I was pretty, thin, and working as a line cook among Hollywood's elite. I was about to get married, but it all came to a screeching halt in 1980, when I severed three of my fingers in an industrial Cuisinart in the kitchen where I worked. I describe my journey through the most difficult time of my life: suffering from anorexia and living with a disability. How could my life continue after losing thrlĪ