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‘Care and Feeding' and ‘Cellar Rat': The Main Course Was Chaos

‘Care and Feeding' and ‘Cellar Rat': The Main Course Was Chaos

Twenty-five years ago, Anthony Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential' shined a light on the squalid side of restaurants—bullying, hard drugs, rampant sexism. In 2017, Mario Batali was brought down by the #MeToo movement amid revelations of abusive behavior. In two new memoirs, women reveal what the restaurant business was like for them.
Laurie Woolever's 'Care and Feeding' is an account of a turbulent life in Manhattan's food world, where she worked as Mr. Batali's assistant at Babbo for four years and for Bourdain from 2009 until his death in 2018.
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