If You Can't Take the Heat
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- USD 6.99
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- USD 6.99
Publisher Description
From James Beard Award–winning author Michael Ruhlman, a coming-of-age story about finding a new life and love in the kitchen…and trying not to get burned along the way.
When high school football star Theo Claverback breaks his leg just weeks after a devastating break-up, he’s forced to call an audible on his summer plans and put his college ones on hold. He soon finds himself in the most unlikely of places for a jock on crutches: the kitchen of an upscale French restaurant, where he’ll work as a prep cook while his heart and leg heal.
But it’s in the kitchen where Theo finds new purpose and a new romance. As he becomes a trusted employee to Chef and is welcomed into his inner circle, Theo begins to discover the true costs of running a restaurant—and what happens when you get into hot water with the wrong people.
Set in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1980, If You Can't Take the Heat is a gritty look inside the belly of an upscale kitchen where love and danger boil behind closed doors.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A talented jock discovers a passion for cooking after a grievous injury sidelines him for the summer in this savory 1980s read set in Cleveland. Sixteen-year-old Theo Claverback lives for football, but a broken leg courtesy of a benign bone cyst leaves him on crutches for a lengthy recovery period. Banned from sports indefinitely, Theo embraces his newfound talent for cooking and, with help from new friend Julia, begins working as a prep cook at Margaux, a prestigious French restaurant. Despite his lack of formal training, Theo thrives in the demanding environment. A tumultuous fling with Julia, who works as a server, is the final ingredient in Theo's transformative summer, but events beyond his control may soon end his time in the kitchen. Combining a "faithful rendering of the time when, and the place where, I grew up" and an "actual story told to me by Matthew Accarrino, executive chef of SPQR in San Francisco," food writer Ruhlman employs exacting verisimilitude to bring the heat of the kitchen and sensory details of the dishes to life in this vivacious debut. Major characters are white. Ages 12–up.
