Don't Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Cooks and Chefs - Hardcover

Even the world's finest chefs and cooks have their off days. In Don't Try This At Home, thirty-three chefs and food-writers talk about the times when it all went terribly wrong. There are stories about greedy pets, clumsy waiters and drunken maitre d's; the food that fails to arrive for a party, wedding cakes that disintegrate, the terrine that falls into a bowl of chocolate sauce. Then there are the rueful, embarrassed stories of errant youth. How the chefs manage to save the day is as entertaining as the disasters that strike them. Funny, cringe-making, and terribly reassuring Don't Try This At Home is a delicious reminder that even the chefs we most admire aren't always perfect.

Kimberly Witherspoon is a partner at Inkwell Management, a literary agency based in Manhattan. Andrew Friedman writes about food, restaurants, and kitchen culture and has co-authored more than a dozen cookbooks. He lives in New York City with his family.