Nonfiction tales of lawn love, competitive chow

Tales from beyond the kitchen
Celebrity chefdom is ripe for poking with a sharp stick, and Michael Ruhlman is in a unique position to do it.  Having previously examined the state of the American chef in “The Making of a Chef” and “The Soul of a Chef,” he returns to finish the trilogy with “The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen” (Viking, $28), a detailed consideration of the many ways in which the skills of a chef have morphed from sautéing and pasta sheets to branding and balance sheets.

Emeril, Batali, Bourdain, Flay and so on — Ruhlman considers them all, and approaches his subject with far more nuance than the usual “damn the Food Network” rants. He knows most of the chefs on a first-name basis and gets insider access — at one point skillfully documenting opening night at Alinea, the new restaurant from Chicago chef Grant Achatz — right down to the (not so anonymous) appearance of critic Frank Bruni. He even visits controversial Rachael Ray on her Food Network set, and comes away charmed by her professionalism.

Others have covered this ground before, but rarely with such skill and insight. Ruhlman weaves it all together effectively, except in the book’s overly long first section, which documents his return to the Culinary Institute of America, where “Making” took place.

Strikingly, he shows how lesser-known chefs scramble to make ends meet, how an Alice Waters disciple such as Melissa Kelly franchised her Maine restaurant Primo — to Marriott, no less — because the money was too good. This, he posits, is the sort of Hobson’s choice that keeps surfacing in the era of the “branded chef.”

While Ruhlman’s credentials are impeccable, his biases occasionally peek through. This is the man who helped Thomas Keller — arguably the most successful chef in America — produce “The French Laundry Cookbook” and “Bouchon,” two tomes that cemented Keller’s nonpareil reputation. Ruhlman doesn’t shy from his roles as both critic and catalyst of the trend, but I kept waiting for him to fully acknowledge the inherent conflict.     —Jon Bonné

Easy to swallow

St. Martin's Griffin

How many sticks of butter can a person eat in 5 minutes? Seven quarter-pound sticks.  How many eggs in 6 minutes? Try 65 hard boiled eggs. These are just a few questions answered by Ryan Nerz's entertaining journey into the world of competitive eating, “Eat This Book” ($15, St. Martin’s).

For one year, Nerz traveled the competitive eating circuit, working as an MC for events and meeting master masticators. He chewed the fat with such eaters as Ed Krachie, who came up with the Belt of Fat theory as to why lean competitors can out-eat overweight competitors (he explains that fat is actually fighting against the incoming food for space in the belly); and Crazy Legs Conti, who once ate his way out of a sarcophagus of popcorn.

The affection Nerz has for the eaters and the sport is evident throughout. Though his tales may grow a touch repetitive, it’s the delicious details — such as finding out that serious hot-dog huffers dunk the buns in water first so they go down more easily — that make the book a tasty treat.    —Paige Newman

Doing the ‘Nasty’
Once you push past the swagger and swearing, Anthony Bourdain (of "Kitchen Confidential" fame) is one of the most colorful and engaging food writers currently working today. His shtick as the Hunter S. Thompson of the culinary world is well-worn, but the man has an irresistible way with words.

Those talents are on full display in “The Nasty Bits” (Bloomsbury, $25), whose primary fault is revealed in its subtitle: “Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps and Bones.” This is basically a Bourdain clip file, pieces previously written for newspapers, magazines and online publications. He invokes the charming device of dividing the book by taste sensation (“Salty,” “Sweet,” “Sour,” “Bitter” and “Umami”), each meant to describe the tone of the essays within.

The best of the material lets Bourdain’s smarmy wit shine through, perhaps none more so than his recounting of a gluttonous romp through Las Vegas with Michael Ruhlman (see above), which makes the Thompson comparison too literal for comfort. (He and Ruhlman both write in their respective books about the same indulgent sushi feast at New York’s Masa.)

But much of “Nasty Bits” also feels like rehash from “Kitchen Confidential.”  Many pieces end abruptly, or reveal the heavy hand of magazine editors. Some material literally contradicts itself. “Am I a chef? Well … not really anymore,” he writes 12 pages before declaring, “I am a chef.” What, should readers decide?

If nothing else, most of Bourdain’s pieces are quippy and fun — great summer reading for foodies. Too bad he didn’t put this greatest-hits collection out in paperback, so you could smear it with suntan lotion and hamburger grease and not feel guilty afterwards. He certainly wouldn’t.    —J.B.

Jon Bonné is MSNBC.com's Lifestyle Editor. Paige Newman is MSNBC.com's Movies Editor. Michael E. Ross is a News Editor at MSNBC.com. Sarah D. Bunting is a writer in Brooklyn. Omar L. Gallaga is a writer in Austin, Tex.

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