French chef, Le Bernardin legend, and Bourdain BFF Eric Ripert just penned a memoir, titled 32 Yolks, which hits shelves tomorrow. The new book, published by Random House, chronicles Ripert's journey to becoming a superstar chef, starting with a recollection of his challenging childhood, his time in culinary school, and the years he spent working his way up through some of France's most disciplined kitchens. In a recent New York Times story about the book, Bourdain compared it to a Charles Dickens story, saying, "I knew it wasn’t a happy childhood, but I had no idea how dark."
Ripert sat down with Potluck Video to chat about the book, explaining that his intention was "to leave a legacy that would be inspirational." As Ripert explains, the book stops at the point that he leaves France for America, as that stage of his life has already been heavily documented; rather, he wanted to focus on his younger years to inspire young chefs and anyone else who's just entering the working world.