Books
The Secret History of French Cooking
The Outlaw Chefs Who Made Food Modern
From the New York Times bestselling author of Provence, 1970, a lively, dramatic account of the spectacular rise of French “nouvelle cuisine,” and the renegade chefs of the 1960s and 1970s who revolutionized modern cooking.
In The Secret History of French Cooking, Luke Barr takes readers inside the culinary rebellion that upended the staid French food world and reinvented the role and cultural importance of chefs and restaurants. The very idea of the chef as creator—as innovator, artist, auteur—can be traced back to the legendary Paul Bocuse, Michel Guérard, and the Troisgros brothers, among other colorful characters. The book also tells the largely unknown story of a group of women chefs who fought for recognition in the all-male culinary establishment of the 1970s, and the villainous, powerful food critic who cast a shadow over the era.
This is a tale of rivalries, global success, and a ferocious backlash; of celebrity, money, politics, and incredibly delicious food. The Secret History of French Cooking reveals the origins of modern food and restaurant culture—the forces that shaped the way we eat today.
Praise for The Secret History of French Cooking
- Eric Ripert, Chef & Co-Owner of Le BernardinLuke Barr brings to life a pivotal moment in gastronomy with precision, curiosity, and deep respect. In this book, we see the icons of French cuisine—brilliant, imperfect, and revolutionary—reshape how the world cooks and eats. A compelling and essential story for anyone who cares about food.
- Alice Waters, Founder/Owner of Chez Panisse and New York Times bestselling authorThe Secret History of French Cooking brings to life the quiet revolutions, humble origins, and enduring wisdom at the heart of French cuisine. Luke Barr’s writing serves to remind us that the most meaningful food traditions are those that hold a reverence for seasonality, resourcefulness, and deep cultural memory. This kind of storytelling celebrates the very values I hold most dear: integrity in the kitchen, respect for the land, and the transformative power of gathering around a meal.
- Daniel Stone, former National Geographic Senior Editor and national bestselling author of The Food ExplorerLuke Barr writes the jaw-dropping tale of the moment food became pop culture. He turns the rise of nouvelle cuisine into a richly woven story about art, ego, critics, and power, moving from smoky Paris kitchens to the grand stage at Disney World. I devoured it. The Secret History of French Cooking is a rich, absorbing, and deeply revealing account of how French cuisine remade itself, and what that reinvention cost.
- Ruth Reichl, New York Times bestselling author and former New York Times restaurant criticUntil the seventies everyone knew what a French restaurant was supposed to be. Then nouvelle cuisine came along and changed everything. Luke Barr takes us behind the scenes to meet the bad boys of the kitchen, the forgotten women - and the people who propelled them to fame. These chefs were creating the playbook for the future, and it's all here - the good, the bad and the extremely ugly. I couldn't put the book down.
Ritz & Escoffier
The Hotelier, the Chef & the Rise of the Leisure Class
In a tale replete with scandal and opulence, Luke Barr, author of the New York Times bestselling Provence, 1970, transports readers to turn-of-the-century London and Paris to discover how celebrated hotelier César Ritz and famed chef Auguste Escoffier joined forces at the Savoy Hotel to spawn the modern luxury hotel and restaurant, where women and American Jews mingled with British high society, signaling a new social order and the rise of the middle class.
Praise for Ritz & Escoffier
- Publishers WeeklyBarr’s prose is lively and his sourcing impeccable…a thoroughly enjoyable look into a defining moment of culinary history.
- BooklistHis work is not just a fluidly structured dual biography but a provocative history of a turning point in the evolving hotel and restaurant industry.
- Library JournalBarr…vividly captures the moment when Ritz and Escoffier conceptualized and created a new type of luxury establishment in which the aristocracy, the nouveau riche, and the beau monde mingled freely and easily. Barr’s highly enjoyable and well-researched book carries the reader into the intimate heart of Ritz and Escoffier’s philosophy.
- Daphne MerkinRitz & Escoffier is a vividly engaging piece of social history about two humbly-born visionaries—one a great hotelier, and one a great chef—and the temples of luxury they fashioned, first at the Savoy Hotel in Belle Époque London, and then at the Paris Ritz. Filled with intriguing details and fascinating (and sometimes unsavory) characters, Ritz & Escoffier re-creates a certain time and place with the deftest of touches.
- New York Times bestselling author Erik LarsonIn this winningly told story, Luke Barr explores the advent of the luxe life through the saga of hotelier César Ritz and chef Auguste Escoffier, whose partnership brought us not only the adjective ‘ritzy,’ itself no small testament, but also such once-novel phenomena as hotel rooms with their own bathrooms, and innovative dishes like Peach Melba. It’s a charming tale of success, scandal, and redemption—complete with an unexpected villain. Trigger alert: It will make you hungry, and a little nostalgic for bygone times.
Provence, 1970
M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and The Reinvention of American Taste.
Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, six iconic culinary figures, including Julia Child, James Beard, and M.F.K. Fisher, found themselves together for a few weeks in the south of France. They cooked and ate and talked late into the night—about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery.
Praise for Provence, 1970
- Alice WatersLuke Barr has inherited the clear and inimitable voice of his great-aunt M.F.K. Fisher, and deftly portrays a crucial turning point in the history of food in America with humor, intimacy and deep perception…beautifully written.
- Alex Prud'homme, co-author with Julia Child of My Life in FranceLuke Barr paints an intimate portrait of the ambitious, quarrelsome, funny, hungry pioneers who brought about a great culinary shift—the ending of the classical era, and the beginning of a newly experimental, wide-ranging cuisine, one that was inspired by France but was quintessentially American in style and flavor. Provence, 1970 gives a front row seat to the creation of modern American cooking.
- Daphne MerkinLuke Barr has written a wonderful, sun-dappled account of the pleasures of cooking and eating in good company. With the deftest of touches, he describes a gathering of celebrated chefs —including Julia Child, his great-aunt M.F.K. Fisher, James Beard and Richard Olney—and the way their American palates transformed French culinary rules for a homegrown audience. Both a meditation on the power of friendship and the uses of nostalgia, Provence, 1970 is the kind of book you want to linger with as long as possible.
- Publishers Weekly, starred review…delightful fodder for foodies.
- Kurt Andersen, author of True BelieversSuch a lovely, shimmering, immersive secret history of an important moment that nobody knew was important at the time. Which are almost always the most splendid kind of important moments.