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A review by lcrou002
Notes from a Young Black Chef (Adapted for Young Adults) by Kwame Onwuachi
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review
I can’t say how this book compares to the original, but it was an informative and enjoyable read in its own right. This would be a good book for an older teen (there is lots of talk of drug use and dealing) interested in the culinary arts as it talked a lot about the inner workings of kitchens, their culture, and the food industry in general.
In addition to a bit of culinary education, the young reader’s edition of Notes from a Young Black Chef tells Kwame Onwuachi’s rather interesting life story. He grew up in NYC and Nigeria, was a contestant on a reality cooking show, and has opened his own restaurants with varying degrees of success.
One of my biggest take-aways from this book was the discussions of racism, from being arrested for a burned out taillight and some parking tickets, to being treated as though he’s invisible and being told racist jokes that, if not laughed at, made him seem like the bad guy.
My only criticism is that Onwuachi come off as rather cocky and therefore not the most likeable, between having wait staff at Shaw Bijou tell his life story over every dish and the way that (possibly simplified for the young reader’s edition) all of his successes were portrayed as being due to his hard work but his failures were nearly always someone else’s fault.
I can’t say how this book compares to the original, but it was an informative and enjoyable read in its own right. This would be a good book for an older teen (there is lots of talk of drug use and dealing) interested in the culinary arts as it talked a lot about the inner workings of kitchens, their culture, and the food industry in general.
In addition to a bit of culinary education, the young reader’s edition of Notes from a Young Black Chef tells Kwame Onwuachi’s rather interesting life story. He grew up in NYC and Nigeria, was a contestant on a reality cooking show, and has opened his own restaurants with varying degrees of success.
One of my biggest take-aways from this book was the discussions of racism, from being arrested for a burned out taillight and some parking tickets, to being treated as though he’s invisible and being told racist jokes that, if not laughed at, made him seem like the bad guy.
My only criticism is that Onwuachi come off as rather cocky and therefore not the most likeable, between having wait staff at Shaw Bijou tell his life story over every dish and the way that (possibly simplified for the young reader’s edition) all of his successes were portrayed as being due to his hard work but his failures were nearly always someone else’s fault.