Bookshelf

Marcus Samuelsson’s New Memoir Has a Spicy Cover

Ask the dust.
Ask the dust. Photo: Courtesy Random House

Totally judging a book by its cover: We’re going to guess that’s not Martian soil or Cheetos dust on the just released cover of the Red Rooster chef’s forthcoming memoir. The book’s emphatic Yes, Chef title seems to be drawn in the African spice mix berbere, suggesting Samuelsson’s self-described career path of “chasing flavors” was at least partially determined within his first three challenging years in Ethiopia before he and his sister were adopted by a family in Sweden. As such, the memoir’s title echoes the sparse, melting serifs of Bill Buford’s Heat before it, or the effective macaroni and rosary titles of Elizabeth Gilbert. Is Samuelsson cooking up a best seller? We’re sure he won’t have any problem finding opportunities to promote it. [Random House]

Marcus Samuelsson’s New Memoir Has a Spicy Cover