Book Review

Title: My Last Supper

Author: Melanie Dunea (Introduction By: Anthony Bourdain)

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 224

ISBN-10: 1-59691-287-1

ISBN-13: 978-1-59691-287-8

$39.95 US/$45.00 Canada 

4 Stars 

Reviewed By: The British Chef  

What a great idea! Up close and personal with 50 great chefs and their final supper. What would it be? Where would it be? What would you drink with it? Who would you dine with? And who would prepare the meal? With these easy and revealing questions My Last Supper is an enlightening look at what these celebrity chefs hold dear to their heart, why they love food and what the perfect meal would be for them to enjoy one last time.  

The book is divided into two parts; the first is the interviews with the likes of Guy Savoy, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Eric Ripert, Gabrielle Hamilton, and others with infallible resumes of distinction. Each interview has a correlating picture of the chef (equally as telling as the interviews) by esteemed photographer Melanie Dunea. As this is a photographers book foremost, the pictures are stunning and are all related to some aspect of the chef in his/her natural environment of kitchens, and in many cases, the food takes a primary focus. Not delicacies displayed on a perfect plate held by the chef, no….My Last Supper is more a compilation of chefs and the foods they prepare; for example, Scott Conant has a string of sausages over his shoulder, Lydia Bastianich is wearing a pasta chapeau or Mario Batali with a plenitude of radishes atop his head. If cooking was learned through osmosis, this book would be the perfect display of it. 

Perhaps the most controversial and least enjoyable photograph to see is a nude of Anthony Bourdain holding a huge marrow bone in front of his XX chromosomes. As Bourdain recommends in his preface to the book, everyone would be much happier if he made decisions about photo shoots before the tequila as opposed to after. Aside from that, the pictures are a vibrant collection of top chefs at the top of their game. My Last Supper would be well worth purchasing for the photography alone. 

The second part is a compilation of recipes that these famous chefs have shared as their last banquet choice. You too can enjoy the traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner that would inspire Gordon Ramsay one last time or Jamie Oliver’s Spaghetti All’arrabiata enjoyed in front of the ‘telly,’ or perhaps a multi-course dinner in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace like Daniel Boulud would find particularly inspiring.  

My Last Supper has a beautiful layout and is very sophisticated. It is enjoyable reading, and would be a great coffee table book or the perfect Christmas gift for someone with a desire to learn more about these celebrity chefs. My Last Supper is a wonderful addition to any kitchen. I loved the interviews! It gives you great insight into the personalities of the chefs, but it was Guy Savoy’s letter to Dunea that was the most delightful to read as he tells of his ‘phobia’ about speaking on the subject of death. He doesn’t answer Dunea’s list of questions, but he does pass on an important life philosophy, which is ‘I talk about openings, not closings.’ How sweet to the palate.