I knew I didn’t want to be a chef. I like to eat what these culinary geniuses create and then I write about them…or in this case read about them and practically drool on the book.

In Part I, Certified Master Chef Exam, I’m rooting for the poor CMC chefs to not undercook their dishes or slice their terrines unevenly. This is more exciting than any stupid sport could ever be to me! Don’t oversleep! Don’t be afraid of salt! Don’t oversalt! Go, Go, Go!! That’s Part I. Poor little chefs, all they ever wanted was to be certified! I mean, I love to cook, but that is exactly why I don’t want to be a chef. Cooking is fun for me. I don’t want it to stress me out, I want to enjoy my kitchen.

And now I also want to go to Cleveland. I’ve never wanted to go to Cleveland! The only association I have with Cleveland is in Spinal Tap, “Hello Cleveland! Rock and Roll!!” Now I want to go to eat at a place called, of all things, Lola (there is a place a block from my house called Cafe Lola and it’s awful: bad service, bad food…good pizza, but not even worth the block walk to get there). Anyway, Michael Symon’s Lola’s makes me want to give that name another chance…if I ever find myself in the vicinity of Cleveland.

More likely though is that I’ll get to partake in the food of Part III: Journey Toward Perfection…The French Laundry. You see, not only do I do FoodPorn, I have other contracts on the side (you people obviously don’t buy enough shirts, mugs and aprons!). And as a bonus for being such a wonderful Webmistress, a friend and client gave me a gift certificate to the French Laundry! Yes, I hyperventilated when I opened the envelope!

Sooooo, now all I need to do is get reservations and then I too can partake in the salmon tartare…..the oysters & pearls….ok, not the calf brain, the whole offal section is really, well, awful to me! But I think I may have left drool on the rest of the pages in that section! (The visit happened, read about it here)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and went on to read The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary I which was also fantastic.