The instant New York Times bestseller that tells the coming of age story of a true French chef and international culinary icon, Eric Ripert.

Before he earned his third Michelin star at his iconic restaurant, Le Bernardin, the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, became a regular guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef, even before he knew how to make a proper omelet, Eric Ripert was a young boy in the South of France who felt that his world had come to an end. At the age of five, his parents went through a bitter divorce. Eric moved away with his mother, whose new husband, Serge, quickly grew to resent Eric and seemed to delight in making him miserable. The only place Eric felt at home was the kitchen, where his mother tried to cheer him up with lavish meals, and where his friend Jacques, a local chef, introduced Eric to caviar, chocolate mousse, and a future where his lifelong love of food could become something he shared with other people.

This memoir is the story of a young chef coming of age, following Eric's life from childhood through his early twenties, where he finds his home in the brutal, exacting kitchens of legendary chefs like Joel Robouchon