Finding Freedom : a cook's story; remaking a life from scratch

Finding Freedom A cook's story; remaking a life from scratch

Erin French

Book - 2021

"Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad's diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir-a classic American story-invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the "girl from Freedom" fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin's life triumphant. In Finding Freedom, Erin... opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was always meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food-as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin's experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom"--

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Subjects
French, Erin > (Chef)
Women cooks > Maine > Biography.
Cooks > Maine > Biography.
Biographies.
Genres
Biographies
Published
New York : Celadon Books 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Erin French (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
viii, 292 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781250312341
  • Part 1. Hope
  • 1. Bacon and Ice Cream
  • 2. Tapioca and Kittens
  • 3. We Were Speeding; We Were Spoiled
  • 4. Days, Nights, Years in a Diner
  • 5. Memories of a Meatloaf
  • 6. The Sound of Harleys
  • 7. The Full Boar
  • Part 2. Unity
  • 8. It Better Be Blue
  • 9. Making a Mother
  • 10. Singing for Our Supper
  • 11. Sawdust and Shiny Floors
  • 12. Amaranth and Fried Chicken
  • 13. Vinalhaven
  • 14. Layers of Angst
  • Part 3. Prospect
  • 15. The Triangle Made of Bricks
  • 16. The Clinking of Glasses, the Flicker of Candles
  • 17. Physical, Mental, Emotional
  • 18. Kicking, Clawing, Falling
  • 19. Nineteen Steps
  • 20. Seventy-two
  • 21. Time to Go, Girl
  • Part 4. Liberty
  • 22. A Gray Day in Maine
  • 23. Who Saved Who?
  • 24. To the Bat Cave
  • 25. Bittersweet Breakup Brownies
  • 26. Potholes and Pavement
  • Part 5. Freedom
  • 27. Leaves of Three
  • 28. Take Me Back
  • 29. Starting from Scratch
  • 30. Women of Waldo
  • 31. The Awakening of a Woman
  • 32. A House the Color of Strawberries
  • 33. There's No Place Like Home
  • Acknowledgments
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this affecting debut memoir, chef French unflinchingly chronicles the victories and failures that led to her establishing The Lost Kitchen, her renowned restaurant in Freedom, Maine. She shares vivid memories of growing up in Freedom, whether foraging alongside her grandparents or enjoying hot fudge sundaes at her father's diner. She artfully describes her growing passion for cooking, which began when she started helping out at the diner at age 12 and intensified after she dropped out of college due to an unplanned pregnancy. While waitressing as a single mom, she married the charming if troubled Tom, though the marriage predictably turned toxic: Tom had a drinking problem and was dismissive of French, and French was diagnosed with anxiety, was briefly committed to a psych ward, and got hooked on prescription drugs. During their messy divorce, French slowly began rebuilding her life with the help of her mother, friends, and food. Readers will root for French and will be fascinated by her efforts at survival, redemption, and rejuvenation. Notably heavier on insight and lighter on hubris than the average chef memoir, this will speak to both the brokenhearted and those with kitchen dreams of their own. Agent: Janis Donnaud, Janis Donnaud & Assoc. (Apr.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Self-trained chef and restaurateur French shares her memoir about discovering the potential of food as a medium for artistic creation. French's journey is sometimes rocky, but her book is a poignant look at how food can be beautiful and healing. From scooping ice cream cones at her father's diner, to bringing fine dining and culinary adventure to rural Maine, her tale is rooted in food. French narrates the audiobook herself, which gives it intimacy as she chases dreams, loses battles, and ultimately finds freedom. Vivid descriptions of ingredients and dishes balance heartbreak that brings the author to the brink of tears. Fans of cookbooks and food writing will enjoy the rich narration and French's path to success as a chef. Finding her voice in the kitchen ultimately led to French finding her voice and strength in the rest of her life, which is a story that memoir fans will relish. VERDICT Well worth a listen for those who find joy in food and personal triumph.--Sarah Tansley, Chicago P.L.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An acclaimed chef and restaurateur offers engaging stories from the kitchen and beyond. In this immersive memoir, French delves into her life so far, covering the twists, turns, successes, and failures that led to her successful career as the owner and head chef of the much-lauded Lost Kitchen in the tiny town of Freedom, Maine. Though this is her first book of narrative nonfiction (following her 2017 cookbook), French demonstrates her talents as a storyteller, whether she's discussing her early cooking career, which she spent managing the fryolator, serving clam baskets, and producing perfect soft-serve ice cream cones at her father's diner; recounting a childhood replete with bucolic wonder ("I spent countless summer days from breakfast until dinner running wild through the seemingly endless pastures and wilderness"); or delineating her struggles as an adult. The harrowing details of her first marriage--her alcoholic husband eventually became abusive, and she lost herself in pill addiction--add palpable tension to her story, as do the scenes set in an "all-female rehab facility." Despite these hardships, French refreshingly avoids unnecessary self-pity or sentimentality, and the life-affirming details are just as strong: The author notes her love of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Stevie Nicks, and the "Cape Verdean jazz" of Cesária Évora, and she shares an amusing tale about baking pot brownies and getting "high for the first time of my life" at age 33. Also relatable are her accounts of tussles and reconciliations with her sister. From a secret, at-home supper club and an early iteration of the Lost Kitchen, the author stays on point in her evocative portrayal of the importance of food in her life. "As a girl," she writes, "I had learned from my father that good food could be a vessel, a way to show love, even when you might not have the words to say so." A canny life story from a determined woman with the gift of vision and the wherewithal to implement it. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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