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Heat
An Amateur's Adventures As Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, And Apprentice To A Dante-Quoting Butcher In Tuscany
by Bill Buford


7.3

based on 26 reviews
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based on 10 votes
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Official Publisher Site

'Heat' is an account of writer and former New Yorker fiction editor Bill Buford's time spent training under celebrity chef Mario Batali, both at his New York restaurant Babbo and in Italy.

Knopf, 336 pages
05/30/2006
$25.95

ISBN: 1400041201

Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Cooking, Food & Diets
Travel

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

The Independent Christopher Hirst

A culinary equivalent of Redmond O'Hanlon's jungle adventures, this book is not only full of drama and entertainment, but also painlessly imparts a wealth of knowledge. There are many fine books on food, but Buford's insane culinary enthusiasm has resulted in a work that is by some distance the best about life among the professionals.

The Guardian Sue Birtwhistle

A dazzling and funny account of two magnificently mad years.

Boston Globe Chuck Leddy

Funny, passionate, and beautifully written...Buford may be a culinary apprentice, but he's a master prose stylist.

Chicago Sun-Times Stephen J. Lyons

A tour de force piece of immersion reportage.

Publishers Weekly

A wonderfully detailed and highly amusing book.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Michael Redhill

A brilliant memoir.

Flak James Norton

Heat, in short, isn't a single literary dish - it's a 10-course meal that readers will savor long after the last morsel of text has been digested.

The New York Times Book Review Julia Reed

Heat is a remarkable journey — I only wish I'd thought to make it.

The Onion A.V. Club Donna Bowman

[Buford's] compulsively readable story is a reminder and a guide to what eaters should enjoy, hobbyists should aim to better appreciate, and food professionals, miraculously, can accomplish night after night.

Wall Street Journal Moira Hodgson

Mr. Buford is a graceful, vivid writer, and his descriptions of the characters he meets -- and the food he prepares and eats -- are a joy to read.

Daily Telegraph

It's a virtuoso display of writing, arranged like the courses of an Italian dinner (anti-pasto, pasta, carne), but never bound by them, for Buford's obsession with learning to cook is underpinned by the desire to understand the history of Italian food.

The Economist

However enthusiastic and knowledgeable their authors may be, books about food are rarely as palatable as the meals they describe. Accounts of other people's eating lose a lot in the telling, while kitchen horror stories may be gripping, but fail to satisfy. Bill Buford's Heat is a glorious exception.

London Review Of Books Steven Shapin

Bill Buford has provided one of the most evocative testaments to our – and his – current obsession.

Sydney Morning Herald Helen Greenwood

With warmth and aplomb, Buford weaves together the spaghetti strands of Batali's story, his own and those of the cast of people in the kitchen and in Italy. He is measured and wastes not a word or a character.

TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Paul Levy

A seemingly meagre but ultimately nourishing book.

Washington Post Warren Bass

Delightful.

The Observer Adam Mars-Jones

Funny, well written and slightly exhausting.

Houston Chronicle Barbara Liss

If there's a more intelligent, entertaining, foulmouthed cooking memoir out there, I'd be pleased to eat it.

New York Observer Alexandra Jacobs

Heat is a marvel of (sometimes slurred) note taking; the author has an amazing ability to knock ’em back in the name of scholarship without seeming like a corrupt junketeer. He gets everyone’s story of ambition and heartbreak, including the dishwashers’. [5 June 2006, p.14]

Christian Science Monitor Erik Spanberg

Conveying the basic history of pasta and its importance in Italy is fine. Noodling in pasta's infinite varieties and fixating on when eggs became a vital ingredient in making the stuff? Not so much. These gripes, though, are small potatoes.

Library Journal Rosemarie Lewis

The pacing is quick, and the writing often mirrors the intensity of the kitchen. [15 May 2006, p.126]

Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese

The Skinny Buford's account of his romance with Italian cooking is wonderfully thoughtful and personal, if meandering. [26 May 2006, p.109]

Booklist Mark Knoblauch

Buford's mastery of the stove is exceeded only by his deft handling of English prose. [1 May 2006, p.61]

Kirkus Reviews

Brightly rendered and sophisticated, as befits a New Yorker writer, but very uneven. [15 Apr 2006, p.388]

The New York Times William Grimes

Heat is a sumptuous meal. But as so often happens, even in the best restaurants, the entrees never quite live up to the appetizers.

The Nation Matthew Debord

I'm not sure this is good news, but he sets us up for a sequel.

The average user rating for this book is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Elise H gave it a9:
I just finished reading this book, and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in food and history. The authentic and unpretentious way that Mr. Buford wove together his story was a delight to read. He brought together modern gourmet cooking and showed how it come from the roots of simplicity and aristocracy. In conclusion I enjoyed the feeling of being inside Mr. Buford's head as he responded to the eccentric and adventurous environment he explored.

Jay S gave it a9:
Filled with food and restaurant esoterica. Well written and fun to listen to.

Katie B gave it a10:
By far the best book I've read since The Kite Runner...then again I'm a major foodie and work in the profession. I am so incredibly motivated by this book, this writer and this man that I am going to reach out to him personally to thank him. I am an Executive Recruiter (25 years now) that specializes in working with and placing the top culinary talent in the world....everyone I speak to now either has read or will read this book...lots of Italian Chefs from Italy just dobn't know yet... Can't wait to make "Butcher Billy's" aquaintance

Idiotgirl in Seattle i gave it an8:
This is a very good book. It provides a hilarious insight into what goes on in the kitchen. But it manages as well to provide real insight into the personalities. It provides a view of the history of food, of geo-differences. I laughed. I found myself moved. And I spend hours and hours slowly cooking my polenta (it was worth it by the way). I've been recommending this book over lunch for weeks, nominated it today on the white board at work for one of the best reads of 2006 (along with Kafka on the Shore). I'm an audiobook afficianado, so I had this book read to me. But I think my opinion still counts. Read this book!

tom w gave it a9:
Really good.

Larry B gave it a9:
Inside look into the workings of a very busy resturant, and some speciaized food preparers, a pasta maker who is afraid that Mario Batelli will get her recieps for tortalleni, and a butcher who does things with pigs that will amaze (amd either inspire or repell).

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Heat An Amateur's Adventures As Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, And Apprentice To A Dante-Quoting Butcher In Tuscany by Bill Buford

Heat
An Amateur's Adventures As Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, And Apprentice To A Dante-Quoting Butcher In Tuscany
by Bill Buford