![]() ![]() ![]() Somehow, Buford – former fiction editor of The New Yorker – weaves all of this together in an entertaining and informative way.įor me, though, the most enjoyable parts of the book center on the time Buford spent in Batali’s kitchen. That’s where “Heat” essentially becomes several books – a wonderfully entertaining narrative of life in a fast-paced New York kitchen, a travelogue of Tuscany, an in-depth profile of Batali and other great chefs, and a historical study of food. And just like the excess-craving Batali, Buford jumps headlong into what becomes a life-transforming quest for understanding authentic Italian food. ![]() So, it was with particular interest that I dove into “Heat,” Buford’s account of cooking in the Babbo kitchen. I enjoyed a meal so full of gluttonous excess, I was nearly taken down by the Secret Service the following day (more on that later). So I can attest to the truth of that credo. ![]() I ate at Batali’s New York City restaurant Babbo last summer. “It’s just excess on a level I’ve never known before – it’s food and drink, food and drink, food and drink, until you feel you’re on drugs.”īatali himself puts his motto even more plainly: “Wretched excess is just barely enough.” “This guy knows no middle ground,” says the friend, who spent the next several days on a detox diet of fruit and water. At the outset of Bill Buford’s engaging new book, “Heat,” he tells of a friend who was fed a marathon six-hour meal by celebrity chef Mario Batali. ![]()
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