This Is Not a Cookbook: A Chef's Creative Process from Imagination to Creation

This Is Not a Cookbook: A Chef's Creative Process from Imagination to Creation

by Flynn McGarry

Narrated by Flynn McGarry

Unabridged — 56 minutes

This Is Not a Cookbook: A Chef's Creative Process from Imagination to Creation

This Is Not a Cookbook: A Chef's Creative Process from Imagination to Creation

by Flynn McGarry

Narrated by Flynn McGarry

Unabridged — 56 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$15.00
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $15.00

Overview

In this uniquely accessible nonfiction work for young listeners, Chef Flynn McGarry, who at an early age discovered a passion for food and cooking and has since gone on to receive wide-acclaim as a chef, shares his insights and explores the elements of creativity as he encourages young listeners to mix passion, hard work, and their own unique perspective to achieve results that might just be life-changing.

When Flynn McGarry was ten years old, he started to cook in a serious way. At first he simply wanted to make better food for his family, so with the help and support of his parents, he turned his bedroom into a personal kitchen. Yes, his curiosity was intense. He committed himself to developing his knowledge of food and culinary technique by reading cookbooks and watching chefs on YouTube and the Food Network. He then pieced together information that excited his sensibilities, paying attention to every detail-from the design of a kitchen to the type of container being used, from the color and texture of food to its arrangement on a plate. He thought not only about menus and the taste of food, but also about where it was grown and how it was harvested.

Now in his midtwenties, Flynn is a well-known chef with his own restaurant and much more happening in his life. Still, with all his success, this modest young man is inspired to share his creative process and his innovative thinking about aesthetics and food, especially with young people. 

Of course, some of Flynn's favorite recipes are included, for those who also want to cook and eat well!

*Includes a downloadable PDF of recipes from the book

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Like a well-plated meal, this whimsical book will find its reader, who will savor it to its last morsel.” —Kirkus Reviews

Part-memoir/part-inspirational guide. [McGarry] walks fellow dreamers through the hurdles of following one’s passion and embracing creative thinking. Dara’s illustrations bring the pages to life.” –School Library Journal

“This clever book encourages kids to tap into their creativity. McGarry makes clear that when you combine passion and hard work, dreams can be achieved. Vibrant illustrations perfectly pair with this lively, inspirational story.” —Kendal Rautzhan, Books to Borrow . . . Books to Buy

Kirkus Reviews

2023-02-08
With this unusual memoir, a young chef and restaurateur offers readers a look at his creative process.

In a nod to René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, each chapter title begins with the phrase “This Is Not.” McGarry, 24, focuses on spaces and objects—among them his bedroom, a beet, and a spoon—he has used in unconventional ways. At 10, he fell in love with food after coming across cookbooks from the French Laundry, Alinea, and Noma. By 13, he had migrated movable countertop tables into his bedroom to work on recipes. As his enthusiasm morphed into all-consuming passion, McGarry’s mother elected to home-school him. This path allowed him to help out in a neighborhood cafe and experience a professional kitchen. From hosting lavish dinners in his San Fernando Valley home as a young teen to opening New York City’s Gem at 19, McGarry has moved through the world with singular purpose. Vibrant illustrations bring to life McGarry’s unique perspective; Dara comically creates a beet-bodied cow as the author describes his beet wellington recipe and a vegetable forest as he discusses foraging. The veggie Mona Lisa sums up his approach to food as art, and while he admits he is a perfectionist, he takes a chapter to remind readers that there is also great beauty in imperfection. McGarry and his family present White in the illustrations; characters of color are also depicted.

Like a well-plated meal, this whimsical book will find its reader, who will savor it to its last morsel. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID: 2940175144247
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication date: 04/18/2023
Edition description: Unabridged
Age Range: 10 - 13 Years
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews