Book Review: Blood, Bones & Butter

Now that I have (I hope) reached full foodie status, it's hard for me to resist a foodie book.  How can I turn away something that combines two of my favorite things, food and reading?  I was particularly drawn to Gabrielle Hamilton's memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef because I absolutely love her restaurant, Prune.  The book is way more than a behind the scenes look at the popular restaurant; in fact, the restaurant barely plays into the story.  What Hamilton does discuss is a somewhat tumultuous upbringing that led her to lie about her age and begin working in the restaurant industry.

A significant portion of the book is devoted to Hamilton's frank description of the drug infested restaurant industry.  While this is fun, I felt I'd been there, done that with Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential.  The last third of the book deals with Hamilton's crumbling marriage, one she entered after years of lesbianism to help get her male lover a green card.  While the marriage was a weird combination of adoration and convenience it results in annual trips to Italy and two children that made for interesting reading.  Interesting but somewhat out of place after the first more scandalous half of the book.  I enjoyed it, but found it a little disjointed.  I feel a follow-up is needed so we can learn more about Hamilton's life post-divorce.

2.75 out of 5 stars.