Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story; Remaking a Life from Scratch
Apr 2021 · Celadon Books
4.4star
9 reviewsreport
Ebook
320
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About this ebook
**New York Times Bestseller**
From Erin French, owner of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchen, a TIME world dining destination, a life-affirming memoir about survival, renewal, and finding a community to lift her up
Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad’s diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir—a classic American story—invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the “girl from Freedom” fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin’s life triumphant.
In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food—as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin’s experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom.
From Erin French, owner of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchen, a TIME world dining destination, a life-affirming memoir about survival, renewal, and finding a community to lift her up
Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad’s diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir—a classic American story—invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the “girl from Freedom” fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin’s life triumphant.
In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food—as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin’s experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom.
Ratings and reviews
4.4
9 reviews
Christine Books
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April 13, 2021
Finding Freedom is a heartfelt, immersive memoir by Erin French, the owner and chef of an in-demand restaurant (the New York Times credits her with having made "a tiny Maine town a dining destination"). I don't typically reach for chef memoirs, but I gave this one a chance and could not put it down. French does not flinch at sharing intimate details with the reader, from family tension to her time in rehab. It didn't feel like her struggles were romanticized or shared to evoke sympathy - they just *were.* They're a part of her story as much as the high points. And in that sense, this singular memoir was actually pretty relatable. The food descriptions are lush; I'd absolutely recommend this book to anyone with a particular interest in cooking and/or eating. But it's also a memoir about living through hardships and coming out the other end.
M Sinick
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April 6, 2021
An amazing journey to culinary success This book is the memoir of Erin French, the chef and owner of one of the most sought-after dining destinations in the country, The Lost Kitchen. Erin grew up in rural Freedom, Maine, splitting time between her family's farm in the country and their diner. Erin's cooking journey started when was pressed into service in the diner's kitchen at age 12 by her cool and distant father and quickly started learning some of the lessons of a restaurant - time management, multitasking, responsibility. She didn’t intend to have a career in food service and left Freedom attend to college in Boston to study medicine. She found herself pregnant and unwed at age 19. She returned home to have her baby Jaime. Her journey from there to exclusive and innovative restaurateur is, in turns, hopeful, hopeless, happy, sad, aggravating, heartbreaking, and eventually, amazing and inspiring. There were so many ups and downs in both her life and her career - depression, substance abuse, a terribly contentious divorce and custody battle, building then losing a business - through these trials Erin learned, grew and learned to trust herself and her vision. I don't usually have a lot of interest in memoirs, but I found this one to be captivating. Erin created a really innovative concept with her pop up supper clubs and I loved reading about the foodie details that went into putting them on, and eventually in her restaurant. Her writing, particularly about food, was beautiful and thoughtful. Her passion for life and for food shine through the pages in a way that is really inspiring. Her restaurant, The Lost Kitchen sources ingredients exclusively from local farmers, fishermen and artisans. The reservation list is created by randomly drawing from the thousands of postcards that are sent each year from all over the world. Erin creates the limited menu each night based on the best, freshest ingredients available at the time and how she is inspired to combine them. Her restaurant is truly innovative, a complete original and an utter success. Any foodie would find this memoir fascinating. Than you to Bookish Firsts and Celadon Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
3 people found this review helpful
Penny Olson
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February 17, 2021
Thank you to Celadon Books for an Advanced Reading Copy of Finding Freedom by Erin French. Erin's relationship with food started early in life, while she grew up in rural Maine on a farm, picking fruits and vegetables and working in her father's diner. She now owns The Lost Kitchen, a famous and acclaimed world dining destination in Freedom, Maine; however, her road to success was a long and difficult one. She struggled as a jobless single mother and survived a toxic marriage which led to the rock bottom of a drug and alcohol addiction that almost destroyed her. She triumphed by determinedly focusing on her beloved son and her love of food as a means to bring joy to others. Her writing is beautiful, evocative, honest and sensuous. In telling her story, it must have been indescribably painful to relive those tough times. Erin is a visionary when it comes to food and restaurants and her love for cooking and commitment to provide a great dining experience shines through. Finding Freedom made me appreciate the sheer hard work and sacrifice that goes into starting and running a restaurant. I just devoured this book and was so interested in The Lost Kitchen, I visited the website to look at the beautiful photographs. Highly recommended for those who love food, life and inspiring memoirs. #FindingFreedomMemoir #CeladonReads #partner @CeladonBooks
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Erin French is the owner and chef of The Lost Kitchen, a 40-seat restaurant in Freedom, Maine, that was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s World’s Greatest Places and one of "12 Restaurants Worth Traveling Across the World to Experience" by Bloomberg. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Finding Freedom, and features in Magnolia Network’s The Lost Kitchen, which is now in its third season. A born-and-raised native of Maine, she learned early the simple pleasures of thoughtful food and the importance of gathering for a meal. Her love of sharing Maine and its delicious heritage with curious dinner guests and new friends alike has been lauded by such outlets such as The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, NPR’s All Things Considered, The Chew, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and Food & Wine.
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