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The Devil in the Kitchen cover art

The Devil in the Kitchen

By: Marco Pierre-White, James Steen
Narrated by: Timothy Bentinck
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Summary

When Marco Pierre White's mother died when he was just six years old, it transformed his life. Soon his father was urging him to earn his own keep, and by 16 he was working in his first restaurant. White went on to learn from some of the best chefs in the country, such as Albert Roux, Raymond Blanc and Pierre Koffmann.

He survived the intense pressure of hundred-hour weeks in the heat of the kitchen, developed his own style and then struck out on his own.

At Harveys in Wandsworth, which he opened in 1987, he developed a reputation as a stunning cook and a rock 'n' roll sex god of the kitchen. But he was also a man who might throw you out of his restaurant, and his temper was legendary, as younger chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal would find out when they worked for him.

He eventually opened several more restaurants, won every honour going and then realised that it still wasn't enough.

Here, Marco takes the reader right into the heat of the kitchen with a sharp-edged wit and a sizzling pace that will fascinate anyone brave enough to hit "play" on this book and enter his domain.

©2007 Marco Pierre-White and James Steen (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about The Devil in the Kitchen

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    1 out of 5 stars

I used to admire this chef....

Now I don’t. The story started off really well, then after becoming well known and winning Michelin stars he seemed to become a pompous ill mannered uncouth boor. How does one tip a plate of soup down a chefs jacket because the soup was cold? And then still brag about it? And that’s after HE stuck his finger in the soup to check if it was cold? Gross! The first thing to shock me in the book was how he slagged off his second wife. What a kiss and tell. Gentlemen don’t do that. Toad! Then he goes off and slags off Gordon Ramsey and his mentor Albert. And cuts ties with them. And slags them off again. This is obviously the story of a very sad man.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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good

loved it.really good book.amazing experience reading it. at times I didn't want to put the book down thats how good it wes

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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He's not the Devil that he makes out he is!

What did you like most about The Devil in the Kitchen?

The honesty, intensity, passion and humour that runs throughout this book...

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Devil in the Kitchen?

There are several that stand out, but dealing with the great British public was his forte!

Have you listened to any of Timothy Bentinck’s other performances? How does this one compare?

At first I was not sure, but he does a very good job, in fact he was really good and his various accents were brilliant...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, not at all as there was so much going on and I had to re-visit several times

Any additional comments?

Marco is a great character, full of energy (Well he was then) with a great sense of fun and humour as well as his determination which was manic.
If you want to be a good chef kiss goodbye to the family life...
Looking forward to his new series on TV starting this week 5/10/15...

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

intriguing in the beginning

I was gripped by the first half of this book. the story of Marco's childhood and early training was fascinating
by the last third of the book I'd heard too many stories of marco telling customers to leave and it got a bit old and repetitive
the narrator sounds a lot like marco, which works for the most part, unfortunately he also impersonates every other character, which is quite cringeworthy especially when he is impersonating French waiters, posh Michelin inspectors and american customers
if you are a fan then go ahead and listen, as the "white heat" days of Harvey's restaurant are worth the listen
towards the end he comes across as a bit sad, and perhaps a bit weird as he cuts ties with nearly everyone in the early stories-eg Gordon Ramsay and Albert roux

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very inspiring

A very inspiring story.A great self portrait of a great man. I would love to see the book updated.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great chef - questionable human being

This book started out great - having worked in the hospitality industry I enjoy his early days learning his craft and hearing about the great personalities he learnt from. Unfortunately after too short a time it became a litany of “how great I am - how many celebrities I know - how well I can abuse chefs and customers - how quickly I can cut off friends but it’s never my fault”. Final analysis is disappointing, boring and repetitive- only bonus is that it was well narrated.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining in parts.

Started well, there were some/many descriptions of people and situations that were obviously made up. overall quite good

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Classically Marco

The book comes across just as the author, passionate, arrogant, boastful and entertaining. An easy listen with some interesting sections

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story-don’t care about how factual it is

Great listen, entertaining, interesting and I hope informative. I was just left with a sense of “I wonder what the characters MPW slated would have said?”

Perhaps MPW has become the sort of person he hated when he was growing up?

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good listen!

Didnt like the narrator or his wierd impressions. Story was really interesting through out the book.

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