Deborah Madison

Really enjoyable memoir. I had no idea who Deborah Madison is, but I love hearing about the different ways that chefs become chefs and that foodies are drawn into their lifestyle. This book was particularly interesting because of Madison's pivotal and yet cranky relationship with vegetarianism. I love her message -- that vegetables are for everyone -- and that often the most memorable food isn't about the food, it's about the kindness of the person who prepared it. It's an episodic work, and somewhat non-linear, but I enjoyed that as well.

Advanced reader's copy provided by edelweiss.… (mais)

I had never heard of Deborah Madison before I saw this book recommended by Marion Nestle, a writer about food issues that I admire. So I got this book from my library.

Madison has certainly had an interesting life which includes twenty years living in a San Francisco Buddhist community. Before and after that time she ate meat but for those twenty years she was almost exclusively vegetarian. In fact, I gather that her fame (for those who, unlike me, have heard of her) is due to books about vegetarianism that she has authored. I am going to take one of her vegetarian cookbooks out of the library as I think that will more clearly show her vegetarian credentials than this book did.… (mais)

I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years, through the discovery and evolution of vegetarian/vegan eating as a culinary event. I have followed the gourmet food scene of Chez Panisse's Alice Waters, La Folie's Roland Passot, authentic Mediterranean cookbook author/teacher Paula Wolfert, and of course Green's Deborah Madison, as well as many other notable chefs and food-related celebrities. So I was looking forward to reading this book.

I enjoyed learning about Deborah's experiences with food - beginning as a child, then in her twenties running the kitchen at the San Francisco Zen Center, writing over ten cookbooks, and opening and running Green's, one of the country's first and still highly rated upscale vegetarian restaurants. Throughout this memoir she is humble and honest, sharing anecdotes as she describes her life with food at the forefront.… (mais)