Rebel Chef

April 13, 2020
French-born, San Francisco–based chef Crenn, owner of Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn (also the title of her 2015 cookbook) and two other Bay Area restaurants, delivers an empowering memoir that celebrates female entrepreneurship. Crenn, born in 1965, was adopted at six months old by loving parents and raised in the suburbs of Paris and on her grandmother’s farm in Brittany, a place that ignited her passion for cooking. She talks of, as a woman, getting a “cold reception” from cooking schools in her native country, and, in 1989, moving to San Francisco, going to gay bars, and working in kitchens. She was 45 when she opened her first restaurant, Atelier Crenn: “Sometimes I get the sense that women over forty aren’t even supposed to be visible. Well, with respect, screw that.” Throughout, Crenn highlights her passion for organic ingredients (she makes sure her staff “has a chance to get out to the farm and reconnect with ingredients at a mineral level”) and celebrates her French culinary roots. Crenn talks of her achievements, among them preparing a dish for French president Emmanuel Macron, and of dealing with setbacks such as a breast cancer diagnosis (to which she responds: “I’m a warrior!”). This enthusiastic memoir will thrill foodies and inspire hopeful chefs.

April 15, 2020
A Versaille-born female chef tells the story of how she came to the U.S. and, without formal training, went on to become a culinary icon. Crenn grew up the adopted daughter of a "well-respected and connected" French politician and his wife. From childhood, she was drawn to food. Family dinner parties showed her that "food could be used to create an atmosphere of glamour and fun." However, the cooking schools to which she applied after finishing university work all discouraged her, because in France, "the role of the chef as artist was reserved for men." Searching for the freedom to chart her own path, she went to San Francisco in 1989. There, she embarked on a process of personal and political evolution that began with the recognition of her own lesbianism. Crenn also laid the foundation for her professional life by waitressing in restaurants and meeting people from the restaurant industry. With signature boldness, she introduced herself to renowned chef Jeremiah Tower, who became her first mentor. Crenn then left San Francisco for a job as an executive chef in a Jakarta hotel that promised her a staff of women, who she believed needed greater representation in the food world. Political unrest in Indonesia drove her to Los Angeles, where she began to develop a culinary style that fused French, California, and Asian cuisines. Crenn returned to San Francisco almost a decade later to open the first of several acclaimed restaurants that sourced from small farms, encouraged kitchen workers to be creative, and made diners aware they were "part of [a] chain, not above it." Each dining experience would be "akin to reading poetry," leadings diners "through waves of emotion." Engaging and candid, this memoir offers a glimpse into a unique life as the author eloquently articulates the artistic, social, and political vision behind her daring, award-winning cuisine. Delectable reading. (b/w photos)

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May 1, 2020
A life (or 50-plus years) in 200-plus pages: when it's that of much-heralded San Francisco chef Crenn, the first woman to be awarded three Michelin stars, every page packs an eventful story. This deep, hearty, and authentic memoir opens with with Crenn's very beginnings in France, where she was adopted as a toddler by well-to-do parents. Her cravings to cook were evident early, first as a substitute for her maman (when her mother was hospitalized), and second, as a summertime sandwich maker. After her career was first nurtured by master chef Jeremiah Tower (of San Francisco's Stars), like many a peripatetic chef before her, Crenn wandered through stints in Los Angeles and Jakarta before returning to the city by the Bay. Crenn is clear about the issues facing women who work in the culinary world?and is always an advocate for the different and the unusual. With her facing a diagnosis of an aggressive form of breast cancer at book's end, readers of all ages and genders will wish her the very best. Spirited and inspiring.Women in Focus: The 19th tin 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2020

Renowned chef Crenn teams with journalist and author Brockes to tell her story of achieving culinary success. Born in France, Crenn was adopted at six months old and, with her family, embraced a love of food and cooking from a young age. Her memoir also recounts her journey through kitchens and restaurant partnerships. After moving to the San Francisco in the 1980s, and training under acclaimed chef Jeremiah Tower, Crenn opened her restaurant Atelier Crenn. In the process, she became the first and only woman, thus far, in the United States to be awarded three Michelin stars. On making a name for herself in the male-dominated culinary world, the author speaks simply but eloquently of the impact that her family and her sexuality has had on her life and career. Throughout, she shares both her challenges as well as her triumphs. VERDICT Crenn offers a breezy and altogether engaging read that embraces and celebrates the events in her life that have culminated in a remarkable career.--Peter Hepburn, Coll. of the Canyons Lib., Santa Clarita, CA

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