
Convictions of a Chef
Cooking for the Counterculture and the One Percent
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Narrated by:
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Evan Marcus-Rotman
About this listen
Convictions of a Chef is a prison memoir, a travel memoir and a chef’s memoir all rolled into one. Filled with fascinating and fun anecdotes about overcoming adversity, culinary challenges and health issues, it’s the story of how one boy grew into a man in the trenches of a cruel and senseless drug war, and embraced food, music and travel with all that he had.
Gritty, vulnerable and humorous, Chef Evan delves into the ethics of the drug war with the same sense of adventure he uses to embrace culinary, cultural and psychedelic exploration.
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What listeners say about Convictions of a Chef
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Shammy
- 09-23-23
A fresh culinary journey grounded in humanity
This book is a captivating journey around the world and through one man’s life, brought to life by the author’s own voice. Come for the adventure and beautifully described meals (you will want to dust off your passport!), and stay for the authenticity and humanity. You have not heard a story like this one before.
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- Ryan Mesch
- 09-17-23
Evan takes you on the journey with him!
I Highly Recommend! I felt like I was with the author the whole time and didn’t stop until finished.
This is such a great look into the variety of different ways we come into who we are with all of life’s twists and turns. He takes you into the Highs and Highlights of Counter culture, lemonade out of lows, mental health, overcoming odds, self discovery and acceptance, and carving out our own place in this journey called life. I journeyed with him around the world in and out of kitchens and decades in a few hours. I loved this book!
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- Susan T.
- 05-10-24
Greatest story ever told
I have to say that I am NOT a reader, and was grateful to discover Audible because I do a lot of driving, I found this book to be an excellent start to begin "reading" again! Great story on how life is full of adventures and lessons and how one can over come a bad choice!
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- Thomas W. Wittman
- 02-02-24
Well written and wonderful narration by the author
The writer’s amazing ability to chronicle his life’s journeys and passions is an inspiration and a reminder that a chefs life can be a grand adventure.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-19-24
An insightful ride...
Marcus-Rotman takes his readers on an epic ride through his challenging life as a homeless teen, through the inanity of the prison system, and ultimately through culinary school, to a new life as private chef to the uber wealthy.
Beautifully read by the author, himself, Marcus-Rotman transports us to the farthest reaches of the globe, when his love of cuisine lands him an adventure-filled career in the international yatching community.
This wonderfully produced memoir is insightful and I recommend it to all who have a spirit of adventure.
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- Dr. Bob
- 09-22-23
Beautiful redemption story
Starts off as a personal story about how flawed the war on drugs is and goes into cooking and adventures from being the chef for John Mayer, Bob Dylan, and Grateful Dead to early years at Burning Man to yachts to remote islands to freelance work.
Amazing journey about an incredible man who persevered to live a full, meaningful life. The author voices the audiobook himself and even does his own impressions— you can feel his heart and soul went into this memoir.
Thank you for sharing such an important, vulnerable story with the world
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- Heather
- 09-29-23
An epic culinary and spiritual journey.
I enjoyed taking the journey with Chef Evan. It seemed as if an old friend were telling me stories of strife and glory all while he grew and learned more about himself. I look forward to more tales in the future and maybe one with a meal and cold beer with the author!!!
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- greta
- 11-03-23
Per aspera ad astra
Chef Evan takes you with him on a journey wilder than most- from the the hole of a federal prison to cooking for the elite in exotic ports of call, to raising the bar of culinary art in Black Rock City. And through it all, he still manages to craft a decent pot of gumbo. Per aspera ad astra!
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- tffpratt
- 02-10-24
An Amazing Journey
Chef Even’s trek through food, the war on drugs, kitchens, and indelible friendships is thought provoking and inspiring. A fun to read guide on how to live a gracious life through adversity. This hero’s hard work, mise en place, and human kindness show to be the right recipe for his much deserved just rewards
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- ZanGoRaider
- 07-19-24
This is an amazing tale of sacrifice and endurance in order to to seek experience and bliss!!
Evan's journey is such an inspiration to creativity and those that suffer from the the harshness of life!! I liked Evan reading this book, I felt more immersion from his explanation and his voice acting. I don't really have a dislike but i felt some time distinctions would have been better but also i liked feeling a bit of the unkown about how much time had past between chapters and challenges. I also distinctly understand now fully why Evan is such a unique and amazing individual. This is an absolute must read.
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