Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella

(Paperback)

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Description

David Shalleck had intended to spend a spring in Provence as assistant to the chef-director at a cooking school, followed by a summer of internships in Italy, the first in Florence at a cozy but highly respected restorante, the second in the hills of Barbaresco. He would then return to the States in the Fall and accept one of the sous chef positions that were starting to come his way after half a dozen years cooking in some of the best restaurants in New York and San Francisco. It was supposed to be just a breif interlude. But four years later he was still in Italy and had fallen in love with the country, but was it time to go home to pursue something more substanital

Reviews

A NEW YORK TIMES SUMMER READING PICK

Just put a chef on a yacht on the Riviera and you have a 327-page book-sized vacation... an escapist story that comes with recipes and practically generates its own sea breeze.
The New York Times Book Review

Engrossing.
Bon Apptit

Food and travel porn at its most addictive.
San Francisco Examiner

He tells his story and manages not only to survive, but to thrive...chastened but wiser and as a true chef.
Pittsburgh Tribune

Once you've salivated over the food described in the book, you'll be rewarded by a nice collection of recipes.
Chow.com

Like Heat, Down and Out in Paris and London, and Kitchen Confidential, David's prose in thispicaresque tale is filled with sage cooking advice, travel anecdotes, and, most important,a young and vibrant voice chronicling the world from a delicious new perspective... a joy to read for both style and content.
Mario Batali

Sailing the Mediterranean in summer is the stuff of dreams. And in the company of a chef who plies the bounteous markets and creates food for the gods, this is indeed a heady journey. For the reader, the luscious meals and the ports of call are seductive; for the chef, the summer aboard the luxurious yacht is also a coming-of-age experience, when hard-won accolades and daunting challenges change him into the person he wants to be. A perfect book for the vacation flight to some paradise.
Frances Mayes, author of Under Magnolia and Under the Tuscan Sun

Fast-paced, fascinating, and well-written, this wonderful adventure at sea captures David's quest for the ultimate ingredients along the Mediterranean coast, the total immersion of this young American cook in the French, and particularly, the Italian cultures and, finally, the birth of a talented chef. Bravo!
Jacques Ppin

David gives a very honest account of the thoughts and emotionselation, happiness, dejection, passion, and moments of inspirationthat all cooks go through. It was completely absorbing while being transported to the wonderful lifestyle and coastline of the Mediterranean.
Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

David has captured the life of a chef in an adventurous way...You will fall in love with theexotic places,fascinatingpeople, and old-world cuisine that is true magic.
Cat Cora, executive chef, Bon Apptit

A diverting page turner.
David Lebovitz , author of My Paris Kitchen and The Sweet Life in Paris

A clever summer adventure tale.
Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

DAVID SHALLECKhas cooked in restaurants in New York, San Francisco, the Napa Valley, London, in Provence, and in many of Italy's famous regions. He has worked for over two decades in the food business as a chef and television culinary producer alongside some of America's most celebrated chefs. He is the founder of VOLOCHEF Culinary Solutions and lives in San Francisco. EROL MUNUZ is a Massachusetts-based communications strategist and writer.