Michael Gibney began working in restaurants at the age of sixteen and assumed his first sous chef position at twenty-two. He ascended to executive sous chef at Tavern on the Green, where he managed an eighty-person staff. He has worked in the kitchens of Morgans Hotel Group, 10 Downing in Manhattan, and Governor in Brooklyn’s DUMBO, among many others. Over the course of his career, he has had the opportunity to work alongside cooks and chefs from many of the nation’s best restaurants, including Alinea, Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, Daniel, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Bouley, Ducasse, Corton, wd~50, and Momofuku. In addition to his experience in the food service industry, Gibney also holds a BFA in painting from Pratt Institute and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
“This is excellent writing—excellent!—and it is thrilling to see a
debut author who has language and story and craft so well in hand.
Though I would never ask my staff to read my own book, I would
happily require them to read Michael Gibney’s.”—Gabrielle Hamilton,
author of Blood, Bones & Butter
“Gibney has the soul of a poet and the stamina of a stevedore. . .
. Tender and profane, his book will leave you with a permanent
appreciation for all those people who ‘desire to feed, to nourish,
to dish out the tasty bits of life.’”—The New York Times Book
Review
“A terrific nuts-and-bolts account of the real business of cooking
as told from the trenches. No nonsense. This is what it
takes.”—Anthony Bourdain
“A wild ride, not unlike a roller coaster, and the reader
experiences all the drama, tension, exhilaration, exhaustion and
relief that accompany cooking in an upscale Manhattan
restaurant.”—USA Today
“A vibrantly written guide to terminology and process, with plenty
of real-time detail and a dash of kitchen gossip.”—Entertainment
Weekly
“Sizzling . . . Such culinary experience paired with linguistic
panache is a rarity.”—The Daily Beast
“Sous Chef reveals the high-adrenaline dance behind your
dinner.”—NPR
“Fascinating and fun . . . Gibney is both a gifted observer and
supremely knowledgeable about his craft and the inner workings of a
professional kitchen.”—The Boston Globe
“Gibney has a fine ear for language and delivers an extraordinary
amount of information about ingredients and techniques.”—The Wall
Street Journal
“Experience one exhilarating day in the shoes of a New York chef in
this enthralling book.”—Parade
“Michael Gibney’s you-are-there Sous Chef is one of the most
informative, funny, and transparent books about the restaurant biz
ever written.”—Bret Easton Ellis
“Sous Chef is a marvelous, superbly written, intelligent, and
accomplished book. I know no other book that so vividly renders the
experience and complexity of life in a big restaurant kitchen. The
sheer amount of knowledge demonstrated here of the particulars of
cooking is immense, and the dynamic, seesaw relationship between
chef and sous chef is especially well achieved. I was gripped by
the author’s culinary passion and literary sophistication.
Bravo!”—Phillip Lopate
“A good cook chooses ingredients carefully, just as a writer must
select the right words. Michael Gibney is a word cook of the
highest order, and this book will leave you licking your
fingers.”—Gary Shteyngart
“Gibney is as skilled with words as he is with his 11-inch Sujihiki
knife.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Sumptuously entertaining fare . . . [Gibney] breathes life into
the mix of outsized personalities inhabiting the confined, hot,
noisy space of the kitchen.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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