Jesse Schenker is a rising star in the culinary world with two restaurants, Recette and The Gander. He is a James Beard semifinalist and has received wonderful reviews and has made numerous top lists both as a chef and for his restaurants. His life wasn’t always a success, though, because earlier he was an addict living on the streets.

Starting at twelve he began his relationship with drugs that would grow into a habit that would take over his life and alienate him from his family and his other love: cooking. Eventually, he would end up in prison and on kitchen duty which would ignite his former passion for food.

After hitting a new low Jesse decided to change and took a chance for redemption even as he struggled against his addictions. All or Nothing: One Chef’s Appetite for the Extreme by Jesse Schenker is a frank memoir of his experiences with drugs to the salvation of cooking.

Christina Callison

Christina Callison has been blogging about books for the library’s website since 2006. She has read hundreds of books that include mysteries, fantasies, horror, thrillers, non-fiction, general fiction, and some science fiction. She continues with her goal of finding new books and authors to recommend.