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The Seasoning of a Chef: My Journey from Diner to Ducasse and Beyond
"The fascinating Diner-to-Ducasse true story of a young New Yorker's meteoric rise from short-order cook at his grandfather's greek diner in Queens to protege of two of the world's most renowned chefs, Alain Ducasse and Thomas Keller.
Meet Douglas Psaltis, the anti-Anthony Bourdain, whose stubborn passion for perfection and dogged idealism propelled him from humble beginnings to the very top of the food world. Doug began working at his grandfather's diner in Jamaica, Queens, when he was just ten years old - barley big enough to haul a sack of potatoes. His next real restaurant job, following a brief stint in college and some time spent in Colorado kitchens, was in Huntington, Long Island, his hometown. Driven by ambition, he would travel into Manhattan on his days off to work, often for twelve hours or more without pay, in some of New York's premier restaurants.
He was eventually offered a regular job ad David Bouley's new restaurant, Bouley Bakery, where he worked six days a week with double shifts, often leaving the house before dawn and returning home to grab a couple of hours of sleep before taking the train back into the city. That restaurant won four stars from the New York Times. From there he went to Alain Ducasse New York, which also eventually won four stars from the New York Times. Doug caught the eye of Ducasse (who called him "the best cook in my kitchen") and was selected as the first American chef in the Ducasse empire and the chef to lead the next Ducasse restaurant in New York, Mix. When Mix changed direction, Doug left and was offered a job working directly for Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, arguably America's top restaurant, where he ran the kitchen with Keller. Today, just past thirty, he is poised to start a whole new chapter in a remarkable career - a seasoned chef at last.
This compulsively readable story of what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the restaurant world is filled with rampant egos, brutal kitchen politics, and settings ranging from Monte Carlo and Paris to Napa Valley. More vividly and honestly than anyone until now, Douglas Psaltis reveals the hardships, sacrifices, and dreams of glory that are all part of becoming a great chef.
Doug Psaltis will open a Manhattan restaurant in 2005. Michael Psaltis is a writer and literary agent in New York City. He and Doug are twins, and they live in Manhattan."
- Taken from the back cover of ARC
Meet Douglas Psaltis, the anti-Anthony Bourdain, whose stubborn passion for perfection and dogged idealism propelled him from humble beginnings to the very top of the food world. Doug began working at his grandfather's diner in Jamaica, Queens, when he was just ten years old - barley big enough to haul a sack of potatoes. His next real restaurant job, following a brief stint in college and some time spent in Colorado kitchens, was in Huntington, Long Island, his hometown. Driven by ambition, he would travel into Manhattan on his days off to work, often for twelve hours or more without pay, in some of New York's premier restaurants.
He was eventually offered a regular job ad David Bouley's new restaurant, Bouley Bakery, where he worked six days a week with double shifts, often leaving the house before dawn and returning home to grab a couple of hours of sleep before taking the train back into the city. That restaurant won four stars from the New York Times. From there he went to Alain Ducasse New York, which also eventually won four stars from the New York Times. Doug caught the eye of Ducasse (who called him "the best cook in my kitchen") and was selected as the first American chef in the Ducasse empire and the chef to lead the next Ducasse restaurant in New York, Mix. When Mix changed direction, Doug left and was offered a job working directly for Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, arguably America's top restaurant, where he ran the kitchen with Keller. Today, just past thirty, he is poised to start a whole new chapter in a remarkable career - a seasoned chef at last.
This compulsively readable story of what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the restaurant world is filled with rampant egos, brutal kitchen politics, and settings ranging from Monte Carlo and Paris to Napa Valley. More vividly and honestly than anyone until now, Douglas Psaltis reveals the hardships, sacrifices, and dreams of glory that are all part of becoming a great chef.
Doug Psaltis will open a Manhattan restaurant in 2005. Michael Psaltis is a writer and literary agent in New York City. He and Doug are twins, and they live in Manhattan."
- Taken from the back cover of ARC
- GenresFoodNonfictionMemoir
264 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 15, 2023
After reading the first chapter, I Googled the author to see if he was really anybody in the food world. He is. Not that I have ever heard of any of his restaurants. Then, again, I had not heard of Ducasse, the great French chef named in the title, nor of the other great chefs he named in his book (except Mario Batali, who was mentioned only once in passing). The only restaurant he worked at that was a familiar name for me was French Laundry, mostly because a restaurant named Laundry is memorable. I could not afford to eat at most of the places named, except maybe Gibbs' bagel shop and possibly Panama Hattie's. A lot of the fancy ingredients named were strange to me as well. If you are a dedicated foodie, however, or a reader of cookbooks, and possibly even an amateur experimental cook, this is a book you would enjoy. For me, foie gras and fried veal brains and gourmet butter made from the milk of cow whose name you know don't have any real appeal. I love to eat and to eat yummy things, but I also am fine eating the food of the common person. I have eaten at a few places which featured prix fixe menus -- mostly in Paris -- and enjoyed them, but the most gourmet meal of my life is primarily memorable for the theatrical presentations, the high price, and the stories I can tell about it -- although I do recall the green pea foam on top of the tiny shot glass of some other vegetable as being particularly delicious.
This book was selected because I was due for a nonfiction book in my rotation and the Genreland them of the month is Makes You Hungry. I find myself conflicted about this book. The vast majority of my reading this year has had at least one nugget of wisdom that I can apply to my life somewhere in it. I have enjoyed looking for that in every successive book. I did not find that here, at least not in anything explicitly written. The lesson that I came away with is that I have never and will never want anything in my life as badly as Doug Psaltis wanted to be a really great cook. And I am very glad about that. There is a lot of information here about his work starting at age 10 helping his grandfather at the diner on the weekends through having a chance to be a top dog at the French Laundry and even a hedonistic weekend in Paris going from one Michelin 3 star dining experience to the next. But there is not a lot here about enjoying life. On every day off, he was working a stage (unpaid internship cooking) at some restaurant or another. His first real vacation of his working life was spent working for a few weeks in Monaco for his boss (who did pay for his airfare and lodging) at a very demanding restaurant in a very lowly position. He talked in the first few chapters about a girlfriend, but that relationship fell victim to his endless ambition, with no time to spend anywhere outside of a professional kitchen. The only part of his life that sounded good to me was the view he had of the harbor of Monaco when walking to work from his hotel room just over the French border. He spoke of books he had read -- but they were all cookbooks and he read them for concepts and inspiration -- and places he had eaten -- again for the concepts and inspiration but also for the flavor -- and friends he went to eat with. He did not have any real hobbies. He never found a partner or had a family of his own; he never even had a pet. The things that make life worth living were mostly missing from his life -- only friends (mostly other chefs) and food and a chance to learn, out of all the things I value -- had any importance in his life. That appears to have worked for him. It would never work for me. I knew this when I was not interested in working in a big law firm and climbing that ladder. And I have had the emptiness of the American dream of a successful lucrative career that consumes your life continually impressed on me as I realize how much I value the small things and the small moments. To me that makes my life more delicious than any gastronomic wonder the author will ever create. I suppose that is a piece of wisdom worth holding onto.
This book was selected because I was due for a nonfiction book in my rotation and the Genreland them of the month is Makes You Hungry. I find myself conflicted about this book. The vast majority of my reading this year has had at least one nugget of wisdom that I can apply to my life somewhere in it. I have enjoyed looking for that in every successive book. I did not find that here, at least not in anything explicitly written. The lesson that I came away with is that I have never and will never want anything in my life as badly as Doug Psaltis wanted to be a really great cook. And I am very glad about that. There is a lot of information here about his work starting at age 10 helping his grandfather at the diner on the weekends through having a chance to be a top dog at the French Laundry and even a hedonistic weekend in Paris going from one Michelin 3 star dining experience to the next. But there is not a lot here about enjoying life. On every day off, he was working a stage (unpaid internship cooking) at some restaurant or another. His first real vacation of his working life was spent working for a few weeks in Monaco for his boss (who did pay for his airfare and lodging) at a very demanding restaurant in a very lowly position. He talked in the first few chapters about a girlfriend, but that relationship fell victim to his endless ambition, with no time to spend anywhere outside of a professional kitchen. The only part of his life that sounded good to me was the view he had of the harbor of Monaco when walking to work from his hotel room just over the French border. He spoke of books he had read -- but they were all cookbooks and he read them for concepts and inspiration -- and places he had eaten -- again for the concepts and inspiration but also for the flavor -- and friends he went to eat with. He did not have any real hobbies. He never found a partner or had a family of his own; he never even had a pet. The things that make life worth living were mostly missing from his life -- only friends (mostly other chefs) and food and a chance to learn, out of all the things I value -- had any importance in his life. That appears to have worked for him. It would never work for me. I knew this when I was not interested in working in a big law firm and climbing that ladder. And I have had the emptiness of the American dream of a successful lucrative career that consumes your life continually impressed on me as I realize how much I value the small things and the small moments. To me that makes my life more delicious than any gastronomic wonder the author will ever create. I suppose that is a piece of wisdom worth holding onto.
December 19, 2024
This is a very short book, but it tells a great story. The author is a chef who started out making bagels in a shop as a teenager and worked his way up to running an Alain Ducasse restaurant in NYC by his early 30s. The singular focus, dedication and determination that it takes to rise that far and that fast is almost mind boggling. Since I am a cooking addict, the tales of recipes, ingredients and chefs were great for me. Fortunately, the chef's brother is a writer who co-wrote the book, so the text is also very well written and entertaining. Highly recommended.
April 28, 2020
Interesting enough if you like fancy restaurants (which I do), but this was a very linear telling of the story which just led from one restaurant to the next.
Read
August 29, 2025This is a very interesting and personal look into the restaurant world. I read this book probably 20 years ago, and recently thought about it again. It's one that sticks with you.
March 23, 2013
Other readers seem to have come to this book with an odd set of expectations. You don't read a book by a working chef for detailed descriptions of gorgeous meals. While the best chefs have a deep appreciation of food, they don't spend hours rhapsodizing over the food they make; in fact, you might be surprised how seldom they even taste it. Unless they're heading the kitchen, they seldom see the food being made at stations other than the one they're working. People who want to read about eating (as opposed to cooking) would do better to seek out the works of Calvin Trillin, Jeffrey Steingarten, M.F.K. Fisher, Ruth Reichl, and others who've spent more time in the dining room than the kitchen.
It's also fairly superfluous to criticize a head chef -- or someone who aspires to be a head chef -- for being a snob. Egalitarian cooks usually end up as journeyman cooks working in inferior kitchens, since they've never developed a stringent set of standards for themselves. Sure, Anthony Bourdain tells amusing stories with plenty of sex and drugs, but he has described himself as a journeyman. Here is the story of a cook who aspires to be more than that, and who's more interested in the work itself than the after-work debauchery. KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL was a terrific book, but in the wake of its tiresome imitators looking to top one another with tales of restaurant excess, I found Doug Psaltis' single-minded work ethic refreshing. It is seen too seldom, both in restaurant kitchens and in the body of literature that has begun to emerge from them.
THE SEASONING OF A CHEF is a convincing and seemingly honest look at the inner workings of several kitchens, and, more broadly, at the development of one serious cook. I won't deny that Psaltis comes off as a bit insufferable at times, as when he declares that cooks who have families and children aren't really dedicated to the business -- most of the finest chefs I've known have had significant others and/or families. The tale of the debacle that was Mix is particularly entertaining, especially if you've had occasion to deal with corporate front-of-the-house pinheads who didn't understand how a kitchen works, or if you are close to someone who has.
It's also fairly superfluous to criticize a head chef -- or someone who aspires to be a head chef -- for being a snob. Egalitarian cooks usually end up as journeyman cooks working in inferior kitchens, since they've never developed a stringent set of standards for themselves. Sure, Anthony Bourdain tells amusing stories with plenty of sex and drugs, but he has described himself as a journeyman. Here is the story of a cook who aspires to be more than that, and who's more interested in the work itself than the after-work debauchery. KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL was a terrific book, but in the wake of its tiresome imitators looking to top one another with tales of restaurant excess, I found Doug Psaltis' single-minded work ethic refreshing. It is seen too seldom, both in restaurant kitchens and in the body of literature that has begun to emerge from them.
THE SEASONING OF A CHEF is a convincing and seemingly honest look at the inner workings of several kitchens, and, more broadly, at the development of one serious cook. I won't deny that Psaltis comes off as a bit insufferable at times, as when he declares that cooks who have families and children aren't really dedicated to the business -- most of the finest chefs I've known have had significant others and/or families. The tale of the debacle that was Mix is particularly entertaining, especially if you've had occasion to deal with corporate front-of-the-house pinheads who didn't understand how a kitchen works, or if you are close to someone who has.
April 12, 2007
Not an awesome novel, but definately an interesting look into the life of a professional chef. When Psaltis finally hooks up with uber-chef Alain Ducasse (or rather, with Ducasse's monstrous fine-dining empire) the book picks up steam and becomes a damn interesting story.
Fans of Thomas Keller and French Laundry might prickle a bit at Psaltis' description of his time there, but should just ask themselves (like I did) "how many Michelin stars do *you* have, you New York blowhard?"
Great book-- all about the work, pretty juicy when it comes to top-eschelon kitchen gossip, but not as engaging as Kitchen Confidential.
p.s. Alain Ducasse really is the man.
Fans of Thomas Keller and French Laundry might prickle a bit at Psaltis' description of his time there, but should just ask themselves (like I did) "how many Michelin stars do *you* have, you New York blowhard?"
Great book-- all about the work, pretty juicy when it comes to top-eschelon kitchen gossip, but not as engaging as Kitchen Confidential.
p.s. Alain Ducasse really is the man.
January 18, 2009
It was with great relief that I set down the mess that was the Twilight saga and picked up Doug Psaltis' memoir of his journey from kitchen helper in his grandfather's diner to chef. The Seasoning of a Chef is different from the other chef memoirs I've read so far. For one thing, most of the other memoirs tend to be written by chef-owners like Mario Batali, Thomas Keller, Marco Pierre White, Grant Aschatz etc. Psaltis never owned a restaurant of his own but worked his way to the top in restaurants owned by culinary luminaries such as David Bouley and Alain Ducasse. As such, the book gives an interesting insight into the food philosophy and kitchens of these chefs.
August 30, 2011
Anyone who works in retail or just feels a little over-used and underpaid at their job should read this memoir. After seeing the brutal hours and work that Mr. Psaltis goes through willingly to get where he wants to be, dealing with those ridiculous customers or missing a 15-minute break now and then, doesn't seem so bad. This book reads very quickly and is easy to just pick up and go with. It's one of those books that you plan to read just a few pages in when you've got some free time, but the high-speed restaurant world snares you and you end up looking down to see that you've just read 100-or-so pages and don't want to stop.
February 19, 2012
I found this book in the library of a rented condo during vacation. As a foodie and someone who likes reading chef memoirs, I was definitely excited to read this book. However, after reading it I was definitely disappointed. Psaltis does not really bring anything new to the genre and in the end his biography just smacks of someone who is ungrateful of the opportunities he was given in life to work with several great chefs in the culinary world. Additionally, he laboriously explains basic restaurant terms (pretty sure he defined what a sous chef was in the text) and that was grating. I would definitely recommend skipping this book and checking out another chef bio instead!
June 28, 2012
I loved this book as it was born to educate its readers about the cheffing world. A lot of ppl have this deluded idea that being a chef is very glamorous especially with loads of food channels propping up in the last 10 years. Celebrity chefs are everywhere and the culinary schools are full to the brim with new and enthusiastic students. I wonder how many actually survive the harsh world of "cooking" and the hot hot "kitchen". The author very clearly states each and every journey and especially the sacrifices he has made to become a chef in a Ducasse kitchen. A must read for every chef wannabe as well as culinary student!
August 23, 2009
If anything, Top Chef has made me MORE obsessed with food, cooking, and chef memoirs. I tore through this one while on vacation and enjoyed following his career from his grandfather's diner to opening an Alain Ducasse restaurant in New York, which is where the story took on real juice. My only sadness is that I would have liked the book to cover more of his recipes and the opening of his own restaurant, rather than ending there. Always planning for the next book, I suppose.....
January 27, 2013
As a graduate from culinary school and having gone through at least half of what Doug Psaltis has, I can certainly relate to this book with ease. Numerous sacrifices have to be made en route to becoming a chef and such was narrated in the book.
However, Doug's somewhat "obsessive" ways of using Alain Ducasse's modus operandi as a benchmark to embark on his own operations was certainly a little too much for my liking.
However, Doug's somewhat "obsessive" ways of using Alain Ducasse's modus operandi as a benchmark to embark on his own operations was certainly a little too much for my liking.
August 9, 2007
What an unappreciative jackass. He deserves to clean toilets at Wendy's for the rest of his life for stabbing the backs of his should-be mentors who (maybe stupidly) gave him a chance in the first place. Glad his restaurant tanked.
March 1, 2008
I'm a sucker for chef biographies, but don't waste your time with this one. His self-depiction of blunt honesty with Alan Ducasse and Thomas Keller suffers badly from his unwillingness to name names like Jeffrey Chodorow's in the text.
August 12, 2009
Didn't finish. The tone left a bad taste in my mouth.
November 21, 2009
I don't think that this is destined to be timeless literature, but it is an interesting tale of the journey of a foodie turning chef.
April 1, 2013
Very driven fellow.
Read
February 27, 2014okay
August 21, 2014
Enjoyable, great details, a glimpse into the world of a chef and what it is to cook.
Read
October 1, 2014No stars.
Crybaby.
Egoist.
Crybaby.
Egoist.
December 12, 2015
Psaltis is not a good writer but it was fairly mindless reading and interesting to gain more insight into the New York restaurant scene in the early 2000s.
May 29, 2016
It was okay. See http://www.eatreadandbemommy.com/2016... to find out why it wasn't more than okay...
July 6, 2016
I bought this book at the Strand by accident (I mistakenly thought it was by Michael Ruhlman), but read it anyway and I'm glad I did. It was worthwhile.
February 28, 2008
Excellent book about author's culinary education.
April 17, 2012
You would think it would be a great story on becoming a chef, but in the end it was just okay.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews