Back of the House Audiobook By Scott Haas cover art

Back of the House

The Secret Life of a Restaurant

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Back of the House

By: Scott Haas
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.47

Buy for $15.47

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Food writer and clinical psychologist Scott Haas wanted to know what went on inside the mind of a top chef - and what kind of emotional dynamics drove the fast-paced, intense interactions inside a great restaurant. To capture all the heat and hunger, he spent 18 months immersed in the kitchen of James Beard Award-winner Tony Maws's restaurant, Craigie on Main, in Boston. He became part of the family, experiencing the drama first-hand. Here, Haas exposes the inner life of a chef, what it takes to make food people crave, and how to achieve greatness in a world that demands more than passion and a sharp set of knives.

A lens into what motivates and inspires all chefs - including Thomas Keller and Andrew Carmellini, whose stories are also shared here - Back of the House will change the way you think about food - and about the complicated people who cook it and serve it.

©2013 Scott Haas (P)2013 Tantor
Celebrity Chefs & Restaurants Food & Wine Gastronomy Psychology Social Sciences Chef Restaurant
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Back of the House

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    38
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Chef is a nitwit

Obnoxious, arrogant & annoying. Reading was fine, writing was fine, but the subject matter was mediocre.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A great look in to a fine dining upstart

As a chef/restaurateur this book is very relatable, if someone wants a peak behind the doors this is a pretty accurate glance without being so in depth that it risks losing the uninitiated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Almost Gets There

As a chef I was hoping that the author would be able to convey that chefs, cooks, and dishwashers are all just damaged people trying to please others. He touched on it a little, but anger isn't the only way our trauma shows it self. We sweat it out night after night aiming for perfection that we will never obtain. We set ourselves up for displeasure. The book itself was well written and an easy read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but repetitive

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

It was fascinating to follow the processes of running a high end restaurant . However by the end of the book the author drifts away from his narrative and gets bogged down in long conversations of cooking philosophy.

Which scene was your favorite?

The first section or the book that is focused on the day to day operations of the restaurant.

Any additional comments?

Read Kitchen Confidential instead.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I could really relate....I'm a chef.

being in the industry I could really relate. The story line actually depicts what happens in almost successful kitchen. I f@#$ing loved the book. Us chefs don't have much time to read. listening to the Audible book sure did allow time to fly by in the kitchen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this but not a gamechanger

This definitely didn't change my mind about, or give me a better understanding of kitchen staff. Maybe that's because it's 2004 and we've had a lot of exposure by now. I will say though this was a fun light listen. I did enjoy getting to know the folks involved. I also enjoyed the author's (mostly?) unbiased observations of the good and the bad. Lastly, I appreciated the chats at the end with other chefs - basically trying to draw a parallel. I enjoyed this and I thought the narrator did a fine job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Truly horrible narration

The narration ruined this for me, and after suffering through a couple of chapters I had to turn it off.
The pacing is bad, many of the French terms (it IS a book about cooking after all) are incorrectly pronounced, and the entire read is annoying.
Too bad. I just wasted a credit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful