Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater

In this entertaining memoir, Simmons, a judge on the reality television series Top Chef chronicles her early love of eating and how her passion became a professional calling, landing her in the center of America’s obsession with all things food. Following graduation from Montreal’s McGill University and unsure about her future, Simmons headed home to Toronto. Securing a newspaper job, she pushed to write food stories. Her editor offered her important advice. “You need a point of view, a way to differentiate yourself. Forget about writing for a while. Go learn how to cook and how to eat.” She attended culinary school, then worked at Le Cirque. Moving on, she landed a job as assistant to Vogue’s food editor, a glamorous and messy position: “To this day, I’m sure I’m the only person ever to attend a Vogue meeting with Anna Wintour with goose fat running down my Old Navy T-shirt and onto my Levi’s.” Simmons reveals the complex backstage choreography unfolding nightly in top flight restaurants and rewards readers with glimpses of the eye-popping Aspen Food & Wine Classic. The author candidly deconstructs the world of reality television and the phenomenon of Top Chef. (Mar.)