something to food about: Exploring Creativity with Innovative Chefs

This book reminds me of the slogan in The Washington Post ads -- If you don't get it, you don't get it. If you're looking for a cookbook -- move on, minion. This isn't for you. It may have recipes but they're for creativity and passion rather than food. As a student of creativity and someone who repeat-reads biographies and repeat-watches documentaries for what some may consider an unhealthy number of times (to dissect the creative processes), I LOVED this book. To me, it's like a documentary on passion and creativity in book form. As Quest interviewed these amazing, innovative chefs and compared and contrasted their journeys to his experiences in the music industry, I found myself adding a layer with my own experiences as a writer in the publishing industry. The similarities were surprising...but, then again, maybe not. The book reinforces the idea that there are common threads in the journeys of all creative types. The passion, the drive, the obsession, the workaholism, the apprenticeship, the innovation, the art, the love -- they all form our personal roots which grow and manifest themselves in different ways -- some of us become musicians, some become writers, and then others become chefs. While there are commonalities in all of the interviews, each adeptly explores different aspects of creativity that will resonate with artists, no matter what the medium is. I learned something different in each one, mostly because the questions were brilliant and gave diverse contexts that led to insightful answers. Even the footnotes are must-reads--some of them were like stream of thought, some contained interesting facts, others were bizarre--all were worth reading and helped round out the interviews and stories. And I usually NEVER read footnotes, but once I read one I read them all.My favorite interviews -- Lefebvre, Crenn, and Link. Most disturbing image -- massaging the octopus (it's just wrong). Favorite Footnote -- The Plague of Pigs--visually the mere thought almost brought me to tears in the most hilarious sense. Favorite Tips -- the best cheesesteak joints in Philly (ROADTRIP!).Reading Something to Food About, and its ten divine courses of nourishment for the soul, left me bubbling with creative energy. Think I'll go write something -- and also check out his previous work.

Cool book to read.Amazing pictures.Enticing food preparation descriptions.Makes me hungry.Stays on my coffee table.Friends and family enjoy flipping through pages.And I saw him play at Newport Jazz festival in 2017.Girlfriend bonked my head-should have bought book for him to sign.Oh well...love the book,food,and The Roots....and girlfriend,too.

Still ready. Did not know it was such a large book. Very interesting.

My life have two parts cooking and Hip Hop... This book is created by one of my favorite Hip Hop personality's... And all this about food, art in food, art in easy small things, concept of it... I love it... Plus form of interviews... Make all this easy to read... And understand... I love this one...

Originally got it from the library and now bought my own copy. It has to be some of the most interesting and insightful conversations ever into the very subjective world of creativity. I have to be surprised that Nathan Myrvhold was included but the shifts in perspectives and backgrounds is very illuminating.

I had a chance to read brief portions before giving it to my son (a trained chef). I gained new perspective on food preparation as art. My son loved the book! Well written and thought provoking.

Love the book - not impressed with the packaging. Book was a bit damaged from transit when i received it which sucks since this is a great coffee table book.The book itself is wonderful - awesome conversation piece!

I picked up this book because I was intrigued by the idea of the intersection between two forms of art, namely music and cooking. While there was certainly discussion of the overlap between the two, I'm not sure I really got what I was looking for. The book really varied from chapter to chapter depending on how interesting or likeable the chef being interviewed was. In parts, it felt like a magazine article. I think ultimately I might have preferred a book entirely from Questlove's perspective, digesting the information he acquired from the interviews and going on delightful tangents.The most disappointing aspect of the book was the lack of diversity. The majority of the chefs featured were middle aged white men. I don't buy Questlove's claim that including diverse chefs would be a form of tokenism because I don't believe that the best or most interesting chefs in America are predominantly male. Dominique Crenn (the only female chef interviewed for the book--there were no POC interviewed) said it best in one of her responses:"The history of the industry has been male-dominated for a long time. I think that the media fosters that. It’s not just about chefs, not on an individual basis. It’s the whole food industry, and all related industries. Men tend to get more attention. It’s a cycle. What we’re doing, and what we need to keep doing, as chefs and women, is to push for change. Strangely, I don’t think it’s as much of a problem inside the industry. I am close to other chefs, male and female both. When we’re in the kitchen, we’re just cooking. We look at each other as people that are skilled rather than people who represent their gender."Finally, as others have said in their reviews: the photography is fantastic.

Phenomenal - great coffee table book or a proper sink in read. Loads of stunning creative photography and insightful points on the creative process for foodies and creatives alike. Also makes a great gift.

I am admittedly a foodie. This book is not so much about food as the culture and experience that involve food. I really really had a hard time putting this book down. I read it over a weekend on my balcony overlooking the river and just made me feel good.

Habe das Buch einem Freund geschenkt, der Questlove vergöttert und gleichzeitig gutes Essen zu schätzen weiß. Der Beschenkte hat sich sehr gefreut. Das Buch wirkt hochwertig gestalltet. Der inhalt ist eine interessante Perspektive eine Musikers auf die Kunst des Kochens.

It was a book about food that always circled back to long winded questions about music, food was more of a side note.

Love the book, unfortunately it arrived damaged, and appears used. Disappointing at best.