His mother, Jewel Robinson, became a chef and caterer after she lost her job as an accountant. Onwuachi, 29, is the only son of a marriage that wasn’t meant to be. Like Boulud’s book, Onwuachi’s memoir should be required reading, for anyone who wants a take on what it’s like to be young, black and ambitious in America. If “Letters to a Young Chef” provides a sober perspective of what lies ahead for chefs, “Notes From a Young Black Chef” looks back on the difficult path that one tough kid from the Bronx took to reach his goal: becoming a chef in charge of a fine-dining restaurant, Kith and Kin in Washington, which has earned him the respect of critics and now a James Beard Award nomination for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Onwuachi assumes nothing, understanding that seeming meritocracies can still be infected with the silent racism that holds back people of color. Boulud assumes everyone who cracks open his book has an equal opportunity within the meritocracy of a fine-dining kitchen. Onwuachi’s narrative confronts the hard realities of a world often stacked against him. The two books could be mirror images of each other: Boulud’s letters offer a kind of softcover mentorship, as a white elder statesman shares the hard lessons he has absorbed with the chefs who will succeed him. The title of Kwame Onwuachi’s remarkable memoir, “Notes From a Young Black Chef,” riffs on the name of a slim volume written more than 15 years ago: “Letters to a Young Chef,” in which French farm boy-turned-Michelin man Daniel Boulud doles out advice to those with the nerve, masochism and heart to carve out a career in a professional kitchen. E-Pilot Evening Edition Home Page Close Menu
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