“If chefs are the new rock stars, Jason Sheehan is like a grunge guitarist of the old school.” —John Freeman, NPR
“Funny, entertaining, and provocative.” —Corby Kummer, The Atlantic Food Channel
“The best of [the new chef memoirs] by a mile . . . by a former chef of no particular distinction named Jason Sheehan, now an extraordinarily good food writer . . . Cooking Dirty is his account of a career spent largely at what he calls 'the low end of the culinary world': late-night shifts at diners, bars and neighborhood joints. Some of it is pure drudgery—like prepping a ‘literal ton of corned-beef briskets’ at an Irish pub the week before St. Patrick’s Day—but when the orders start pouring in, the pace and chaos and heat in even a low-end kitchen somehow fuse into a kind of mass lunatic joy. ‘I am God of the box,’ he writes, ‘the brain-damaged Lord Commander of a kingdom of fifty feet by five and made entirely of stainless steel, industrial tile, knives, sweat and fire.' "—Time
“‘Cooking Dirty,’ a broad, prickly, affecting memoir chronicling his recollections of his first 30-odd years . . . Young and ambitious and in full voice, Sheehan no doubt has many adventures ahead to gather for his next memoir (or three). I’d expect them.” —Tucker Shaw, Denver Post
"For food critic Sheehan, who spent almost 20 years on the restaurant kitchen front lines, cooking is war. His rough, tough, and riveting culinary biography details the scars he earned in his journey through life and gives readers a true taste of a real cook's working world." —Library Journal (Best Book of 2009 selection)
