Excited for the Bruni memoir? Wait until you see chef Grant Achatz's. Over the weekend, chef Achatz sent us and Pete Wells a copy of the proposal for his new memoir, Life on the Line, an account of his battle with tongue cancer, his career as a chef, and the life of his restaurant Alinea.
Though we only get excerpts from a few chapters now, it's compelling read. We get a look at his James Beard experience— he thought Blue Hill's Dan Barber was a lock— and how it helped the bottom line of the restaurant. We learn about how Alinea came to be and about Achatz's early and harrowing experience working for Charlie Trotter. Most touchingly, he writes about what it was like to get the cancer diagnosis, hear his odds at survival, go through chemo while working 14 hour days, and lose his sense of taste during service. To take a look at the proposal, download the pdf here, or just see Wells' take.
· Life on the Line Proposal [PDF]
· The World’s First Gastronomical-Oncological Coffee Table Book? [Diner's Journal]
· All Grant Achatz Coverage [~E~]