Everything is Under Control: A Memoir with Recipes

By Phyllis Grant

‘Grant whips up moments of intense emotion and life with the briefest of words and images. Throughout it all, food is the life source, comfort, energiser and inspiration bursting from the pages a la Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential.’ Stylist ‘What a beautiful, rich, poetic memoir this is. Phyllis writes of longing, suffering, family, and food with such delicate power. Like the best chefs, she knows how to make a masterpiece from a few simple ingredients: truth, poignancy, and love. A wonderful book.’ Elizabeth Gilbert, author of 10 million copy bestseller Eat, Pray, Love

Bake. I bake for others. Belgian waffles, French toast, crêpes, chocolate chip cookies. When I cook, I am calm, I am confident. There is comfort in the logic.

Chef and award-winning writer Phyllis Grant’s life has been defined by food.

First, as a dancer struggling to find her place at Julliard, when banana muffins with inch-thick streusel are the fuel for another day of training. Then, a lowly junior chef in high-pressure NYC four-star kitchens, as she masters the tarte Tatin and ice cream custard.

Falling in love with her future husband and the garlicky tomato sauce he makes in his bare apartment.

The quesadillas she can’t stop eating in LA before she realises she’s pregnant.

These are the recipes that have accompanied Phyllis throughout the smooth and jagged stages of her life as she navigates the highs and lows of young adulthood, being a mother, and a career in the kitchen.

Written with the transparency of a diarist and including tried-and-true recipes from her chef’s table, Everything Is Under Control is a raw and riveting story about food, family, love and loss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jun 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9780008338992

Reviews for Everything is Under Control

[barbaras2016 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At first, did not think I would like this book. It was too disjointed. I couldn't get into it until I did. Then I could not put it down. I was hooked. I was fascinated. The author wants to be a dancer. Moves from California to New York and attend Julliard. She graduates but she can't be a dancer because she can't get through an audition. She decides to become a chef. She works in kitchens. The food scene in New York is brutal. Long hours, injuries, and pain. Like I said fascinating. I have been so sheltered in my life. I live vicariously through other people and their memoirs. So many books. So little time. I digress. She marries. Has kids, many miscarriages, and wicked postpartum depression. Everyone survives. The author, husband, kids, and the marriage. They even witness the twin towers coming down and move to California. The finale is the recipes. Many of the dishes she talks about in the book you can make because the recipes are included. The Tarte Tatin and the vanilla bean custard ice cream are delicious. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.