Making the Cut: What Separates the Best From the Rest

by Chris Hill

A lost soul of a line cook sent a tragic 3AM email that would indefinitely change Chef Chris Hill's perception of the industry he fell in love with as a boy. As a result, Hill set out on to interview the industry's elite , looking to answer the question, 'what does it take to be successful?'. Along the way, he has interviewed some of the world's greatest chefs - Top Chef's Fabio Viviani, handfuls of James Beard Award Winners, as well as Michelin Star earners. In this candid, vulnerable book into the lives of the best of the best, Hill shares their stories (triumphs and failures), as well as his own, and the lessons that we can all learn, as it relates to creating success for our careers, and for our lives as a whole.

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2016

About the author

Chris grew up in Atlanta, then went off to earn a Master's in Marketing - that provided him with a lucrative job in consulting upon graduation that he soon learned to hate. Miserable after a year and a half, Chris made a 180°, followed his heart and passion into the world of cooking and opened his first restaurant at the age of 28 where he grew into the role of executive chef. Having taken his experiences in the corporate world, as well as those in the kitchen, Chris has built a large following centered around TV appearances all over the Southeast U.S., his writing, 2 TEDx talks and his mission of helping industry workers to lead fulfilling, successful careers. He regularly speaks and shares his work on Medium discussing topics such as restaurant leadership, overcoming failure and business/entrepreneurship.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book anticipating that it would plumb the success of a number of worthy chefs, something in the order of Michael Ruhlman's "The Soul of a Chef" (2001). I was led to anticipate this by the blurb about the book: "Hill set out on to interview the (culinary) industry's elite, looking to answer the question, 'what does it take to be successful?'. Along the way, he has interviewed some of the world's greatest chefs, including Jeremiah Tower and Frank Stitt, as well as Top Chef's Fabio Viviani, handfuls of James Beard Award Winners, as well as Michelin Star earners. ... In this candid, vulnerable look into the lives of the best of the best, Hill shares their stories (triumphs and failures), as well as his own, and the lessons that we can all learn, as it relates to creating success for our careers, and for our lives as a whole." Instead, I got a book that was worth neither the paper on which it was printed nor the time it took to read it. This is truly one of the worst books I've ever read. I read the first chapter and thought, "This guy sounds like one of those 'Dare to be Great' speakers of the ilk of Tony Robbins." As a preface to the second chapter, he quotes Tony Robbins in large type. Tony Robbins self identifies as "the nation's top life and business strategist" on his website. I think Chris Hill would like to be Tony Robbins. The premise is always the same: "If you believe it, you can BE it." This is, of course, utter nonsense. The author is immensely impressed by his exiguous accomplishments. His FaceBook page says he is an "Inspired Chef, Author, Entrepreneur + 2X TEDx Speaker, Ex-Restaurant Owner." One assumes he wrote that. He tries very hard to imitate Anthony Bourdain, altogether unsuccessfully. There are fragments of several interviews with several noted chefs but these are poorly conducted and poorly reported. If "Chef" Hill's cooking is as bad as his writing, it is fit only for consumption by whichever one of your dogs you like the least. The book claims to have been edited by Laura DeVries; the text contains no evidence that it was ever edited by anybody. The book claims that it was published by PacesFerry Press in Atlanta. A diligent search of the Internet revealed no such publisher in Atlanta nor anywhere else. There is a road in Atlanta called Pace Ferry. The whole thing looks self-published to me. I have several thousand volumes in my home culinary library. This will not be one of them. If Powell's will buy my copy, I'll sell it to them. If not, I'll donate it to the local library's book sale and let some other poor reader, taken in by Mr. Hill's packaging, find out the truth through their own reading of this absurdly poor book.

[Ry Mur · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring read for those who are dealing with the "grind" of entrepreneurship and looking to carve out their own story in the professional world. You don't need to be part of the culinary world to appreciate and find guidance in the messages presented in this book. It really shows the value of taking chances, getting out of your comfort zone, and seizing opportunities wherever they present themselves. The biggest lesson I learned from this book was that you don't need to be all that skilled at anything to be successful. You just need to be curious and driven.

It doesn't pump up the reader with promises of success, only the knowledge that success is possible with the right mindset. While the stories do captivate with fantastic, yet realistic, culminations of grand accomplishment, the tone can be a little dull at times.