Why I Cook

From Emmy Award-winning chef Tom Colicchio—a cookbook and memoir that shares an exclusive look inside the mind and kitchen of the beloved restaurateur and TV personality.

Tom Colicchio cooked his first recipe at 13 years old—a stuffed eggplant from an issue of Cuisine magazine that he picked up out of boredom—and it changed his life. Now for the first time ever, Tom recounts the extraordinary personal journey that brought him from his working-class Italian background in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to the award-winning kitchens of New York City’s best restaurants, to the set of Top Chef and the stage of the Emmy Awards.  

Through 10 memoir chapters and 60 recipes, Why I Cook shares Tom’s personal reflections of more than 40 years behind the stove. From pre-dawn fishing excursions with his grandfather to running the flat-top at the snack shack of the local swim club, to finding his way as a young chef in New York City, Tom chronicles the dishes and memories that have shaped him as a person and chef.

Through these meaningful dishes, gorgeous recipe shots, and images from Tom’s childhood, Why I Cook is the most personal look into Tom’s life yet.  

Winner, IACP Award, Best Book of the Year in Literary Food Writing
Named a Best Book of 2024 by Amazon and Barnes & Noble 
Named a Best New Cookbook / Gift Book by Food & Wine, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Post, and more