From the author of the widely acclaimed Heat, an exhilarating account of Bill Buford's adventures in the world of French cooking.

'A romping, chomping, savoury tour de force... Hilarious' Simon Schama

What does it take to master French cooking? This is the question that drives Bill Buford to abandon his perfectly happy life in New York City and (with his wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow) move to Lyon, the so-called gastronomic capital of France.

But what was meant to be six months in a new city turns into a wild five-year odyssey. As Buford apprentices at Lyon's best boulangerie, studies at a legendary culinary school and cooks at a storied Michelin-starred restaurant, he discoveries the true grit, precision and passion of the French kitchen.

'Hugely entertaining' Observer

'Rollicking, food-stuffed entertainment... Gourmets and gourmands will savour this' Spectator

For a rip-roaring account of French food culture and the dos and don'ts of working in a kitchen, look no further. -- Olivia Marks * Vogue *The Best Food Writing For Autumn 2020* *
Hugely enjoyable... Buford's patience and composure are remarkable, his reportage illuminating. -- Roger Lewis * The Times *
This book may well be an even greater pleasure than its predecessor... Delightful, highly idiosyncratic. -- Lisa Abend * New York Times Book Review *
Buford is excellent company - candid, self-deprecating and insatiably, omnivorously interested... [I] wolfed it down. -- Orlando Bird * Telegraph *
I adore Buford's enthusiasm, which is unstinting, endlessly curious and absolutist in the best sense. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *
Hugely entertaining. -- Tim Adams * Observer *
Another rollicking, food-stuffed entertainment... Gourmets and gourmands will savour this. -- Adam Begley * Spectator *
A chomping, romping, savoury tour de force: by turns hilarious (often at his own expense); and seriously thought provoking about our relationship with cooking and appetite... You finish it stuffed and groggy with happy illumination but as with every great feast, wanting even more! -- Simon Schama
I admire this book enormously; it's a profound and intuitive work of immersive journalism. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *
By turns funny, intimate, insightful, and occasionally heartbreaking. It's a remarkable book, and even readers who don't know a sabayon from a Sabatier will find it endlessly rewarding. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *

Bill Buford has been a writer and editor for the New Yorker since 1995. Before that he was the editor of Granta magazine for sixteen years and, in 1989, became the publisher of Granta Books. He is also the author of Heat and Among the Thugs. He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, grew up in California, and was educated at UC Berkeley and Kings College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a Marshall Scholarship for his work on Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jessica Green, and their two sons.