No Experience Necessary

November 11, 2013
In this rambunctious memoir, celebrity chef Van Aken (My Key West Kitchen) charts his unlikely path from smalltown Midwestern free spirit to ‘Fusion’ cuisine trailblazer. After a shaky, name-dropping intro, Van Aken narrates his bohemian wanderings at the end of the flower-power era, wanderings that led him to the melodious environs of Key West. As Van Aken struggles through one miserable blue-collar job after another—landscaper, hot-tar roofer—he determines that cooking is his least horrible option. From there, his sweaty rise to the apogee of his profession is both unlikely and appealing. In diffuse but vivid prose, Van Aken’s narrative speeds through restaurants, anecdotes, and oddball characters. Each chapter ends with a flourish: a recipe from a particular stage of his career. The strongest and most honest writing, by far, involves his earlier years as he struggles to master his craft. The latter third of the book blurs into anecdotes of gluttonous feasting and his restaurant openings (and closings). For legal reasons, perhaps, Van Aken skims over the financial problems and personality clashes that would have deepened his narrative. Nevertheless, the book contains much of the freedom and generosity of the era that created him. Van Aken has crafted an unlikely tale of a hippie kid who helped raise Margaritaville to a culinary destination.