His father was a wanderer, his mother was a refugee. They met in South America, after many years of trying to find peace, and they put down roots in Canada. Their son Teo grew up around enticing foods from many countries and learned to cook in his mother's kitchen. In his twenties, Teo Wolf moved to Paris to apprentice at a noted French restaurant. He was lucky that through a friend of a friend, he was introduced to fellow Canadian Frankie, the sous chef of that restaurant, who gave him a culinary education from the ground up. Frankie was an outsized character-handsome, talented and generous to Teo. He was also ambitious and a skirt chaser, who liked to test the boundaries. But he wasn't the only one. The head chefs in his restaurant were physically and mentally abusive to their employees-and the only answer they would tolerate was "oui chef." When Frankie went off the deep end and disappeared, Teo was named principal chef, but he declined the offer and returned to Canada. His wealthy childhood friend Magus, proposed a set of restaurants under the Company name "Magic Wolf" with him as the developer and Teo in charge of all of the restaurants. This was too hard to pass up, and while things were fantastic for a while, Frankie returned to claw his job back. As Teo's career and personal life began to implode, long buried secrets resurface. Can Teo find the peace that eluded his parents and reunite with the one he loves most?
This was an unusual and enlightening read. Based on the actual history of his parents, Taylor painted a picture of an unlikely international marriage that influenced the author's life and interests. It also went into the treatment of employees in the 80's and 90's, which was concealed by the sterling reputation of the restaurants in which they worked. Readers will realize that in food service, drama goes way beyond the food.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
Publication date - October 8, 2024
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