It was the first visit to Philadelphia's Deux Cheminées restaurant for Samuel Young and his wife, Risa, and after the meal, Chef Fritz Blank came grumbling by to join them for a few minutes. Despite his rant, though, his eyes were merry, and he left the table with a joke about the tears of the city's chefs.
After that engaging introduction, it was hard not to say oui when the mail brought an announcement that a class with Blank would be introducing students to the preparation of three simple French meals, followed by a sumptuous lunch at Deux Cheminées.
That was the start of a personal and culinary odyssey over the years that took Young through kitchens and cooking schools, dining rooms and classrooms, and--most important--into a rich and abiding friendship with the great chef himself. Now Young's new book takes us all along the path that brought such a full menu of varied experiences, fascinating people, and immersion into the entertaining, warmly human story of the highly creative and talented Fritz Blank.
