No Crying In The Kitchen: A Memoir Of A Teaching Chef (Volume 1)

This is the tasty story of Michel LeBorgne's journey through a culinary life, a life that started on a farm in Brittany and led eventually to the New England Culinary Institute. Michel learned the basics from master chefs in Paris. Like many other ambitious young men (Jacques Pepin comes to mind) Michel came to New York City and quickly found employment in some of the city's most fashionable restaurants. Eventually, however, Michel turned away from the grind of the restaurant life and took a job with Yale University's food service. For more than a decade he combined the flair of French cuisine with the needs of a massive institution. When the opportunity arose to take on the teaching chef duties at a start-up educational institute in Montpelier, Vermont, Michel jumped at the chance. Now chefs and restaurant owners worldwide have learned their kitchen skills at New England Culinary Institute, many under the watchful eye and guiding hand of Chef Michel LeBorgne.

Michel LeBorgne's earliest memories are of life in rural France during World War II. An accomplished bicycle race and rugby player, a summer job at a nearby resort/hotel convinced him that his future was in the kitchen. School was followed by a series of apprenticeships and jobs where he worked his way up through the various positions in the kitchen brigade, working under the sometimes stern tutelage of some of Paris's finest chefs. Seeking to take advantage of the growing popularity of French cuisine in America, he moved to New York, speaking only the universal language of the kitchen. Michel eventually transitioned his skills to education, as he became an instrumental figure in the success of the New England Culinary Institute, a school whose reputation and influence now extends worldwide.