Care and Feeding has a lot of juicy parts: the former assistant to disgraced chef Mario Batali & the late Anthony Bourdain, Woolever has had an extensive career in food media. Paired with her own story, this is a full and engrossing memoir of someone with DEMONS. I appreciate how honest she was; there were not attempts to gloss over unflattering facts or sweeten the story up. That said, I found this person to be extremely glib and selfish, often taking for granted her family, friends, and career moves that she admittedly stumbles into. Again, I appreciate her honestly.

As someone who works (and lives!) deeply in the food space, I was very eager to listen to this one. Lauurie Woolever's story is both unique and in many ways, standard to many who work in the food industry.

I loved hearing about her culinary school experience and her apprehension about going into restaurant work (exactly why I haven't gone to culinary school, though I know things are a bit different these days). It was great seeing how she carved her own path with a little bit of ambition and a lot of luck. She got in with Mario Batali closer to the start of his fame and worked very closely with him. She also worked for and grew quite close to Anthony Bourdain and worked with him until his passing.

Much of the book is about Woolever's experience in the culinary workplace, with lots of salacious details about Mario Batali's behavior. She wrote in a way that made me feel like I could really trust her, too... She isn't a Batali hater and actually stood by his side through so much. But the book is also deeply about the author's personal life- her alcohol use, dating/sex life, experience with motherhood, and more. She doesn't have a light and breezy past and she gets pretty nitty gritty; so make sure you can handle this before picking up the book. It's definitely not just about food!

It's not really my place to judge someone's life, but I would have liked to see a little bit more self reflection on how she hurt people, especially her ex-husband. Maybe I missed something, but it was almost like cheating on him was just a fact and that she didn't regret anything. But that's just me.

Overall, I really enjoyed Laurie Woolever's memoir and I appreciate her being so honest!

In Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever serves up a sharp, moving, and deeply human memoir that blends the personal with the culinary in unforgettable ways. With humor and unflinching honesty, she reflects on family, grief, motherhood, and the complexities of her working relationship with Anthony Bourdain. A significant portion of the book grapples with her time working for Mario Batali, offering a candid and nuanced perspective on loyalty, complicity, and reckoning in the aftermath of his public downfall. Woolever’s narration adds an extra layer of intimacy, making listeners feel like they’re seated at her kitchen table, wine glass in hand. Both witty and vulnerable, this audiobook is a poignant exploration of how we nourish ourselves—and each other—through life’s messiest moments. A must-listen for food lovers, memoir fans, and anyone who has ever found meaning around a dinner table.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC Audio addition.

Wow, Just Wow. This was a raw and inspiring read about the restaurant world something I know little about until now. Learning about the variety of jobs Ms. Woolever held throughout here career was eye opening and thrilling. There were some real laugh out loud sections and some cringe-worthy moments. Although I know who many of the chefs mention in this memoir are from TV this work give you an insight into each individuals experiences and opportunities and how they approached them through out their career. I was not surprised to learn of the sex, pot and booze usage in the field. I

Prior to reading Care and Feeding: A Memoir I didn't know who Laurie Woolever was and I barely knew who Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali were. The book just sounded like the memoirs of a person who'd led an interesting life. Plus, I'm a sucker for audiobooks where the authors read their own work.

Laurie Woolever's memoir should appeal to a lot of different people. Do you like to cook? Are/were you a Food Network/Anthony Bourdain/Mario Batali fan? Are you Gen X? Are you a parent? Have you struggled with addiction? Have you struggled with body image? Are you in a long term relationship that's maybe not what you might like it to be but you're not sure if there are really any better options? Are you a Money Diaries fan/have you struggled to live your best life in a champagne and caviar area on a Beast and sardines budget? Do you identify with #MeToo? Have you worked in a commercial kitchen? Have you been a personal assistant? Have you been an author? I could go on, but these are some of the experiences that Laurie Woolever recounts.

So, LSS, if you at all think anything about Care and Feeding: A Memoir will appeal to you it probably will. Try it! Try it! And you may. Try it and you may, I say.

I would like to thank HarperAudio Adult for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but one of my personal goals this year is to learn how to cook. I’m drawn to all books kitchen adjacent. This is a memoir from the assistant to Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. Mario is as gross as I suspected but Anthony sounded lovely. More than kitchen escapades, this book is weighed down by the author’s drug and alcohol addiction. I was floored by many of her choices and not in a good way.

This was a very sincere book that will help a lot of people. From the marketing and the cover, I expected it to be a classic food memoir. It was definitely more than that. It was very introspective and explored one women's journey with sobriety.

A scathing memoir of the culinary world but with a beating heart. I really loved the portrayal of Anthony Bourdain from the author’s perspective as I think we all wanted to know more about this larger than life man. Woolever also pulls back the curtain on SA and drugs in the celebrity kitchen scene but gives us such a beautiful redemption story that we’re able to enjoy her triumph over the struggle. Raw and revealing.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy. These opinions are my own.

If you are a fan of memoir and food writing, this is going to be a huge hit. I love reading someone elses story through the lens of food. I could smell, taste, feel every chapter completely.

I honestly don't know what I was expecting going into this book. I was lucky enough to receive an ALC of the audiobook, narrated by the author herself, thanks to Netgalley and the publishers at HarperAudio. All opinions are my own.

If you thought watching "The Bear" was traumatic or too intense then you better buckle up for Care and Feeding: A memoir, By Laurie Woolever.

I never quite know what to expect going into a book written by, or about someone in the restaurant world. Will I be getting some romanticized, over-hyped lens of the reality of restaurants? Will I be getting advice on how to be a better worker? Will it be funny, using humor to deflect from the trauma endured? Will it effect some change to the industry?

What I was met with was Woolver's expertly written, raw, almost journal like retelling of her life and her experience working in restaurants. The bullshit she had to put up with working as Mario Batali's assistant when she was fresh out of culinary school. The memories she had working for the beloved Anthony Bourdain as his assistant right up until his death. Then everything in between that happens outside of work. Raising a child, marriage, friendship, addiction, mental health, the list goes on.
It's refreshing to read something that feels so true to how a lot of us have experienced restaurant work life, without it being some romantic idealization of addiction, abuse, long hours and garbage pay.

This story is so much more than just who Woolever worked for though. It's honest, devastating, gut-wrenching, and humbling. It's inspiring in a sort of way. The way that Woolever writes, it's almost as if she is giving everyone else permission to be real with themselves too. To own up to whatever awful shit they may have done.

I found myself cringing through many of the parts of the book where I felt like I had second hand embarrassment for her. But also I had such a degree of understanding and sympathy for a lot of it. The admittance of fucking up. Of not making the right decisions. Of not being perfect. That's such an essential part of learning how to live a healthier life.
Then there were the parts where I unfortunately could empathize with some of the situations. Finding myself reliving past traumas right alongside Woolever as she recounts some pretty hideous truths about being a young woman working in kitchens, feeling like you have no direction in life.

With the epilogue, it feels *to me* as though Woolever hopes for a better future for restaurants, as far as a healthy workplace is concerned. If you work in the industry, truly you should put this on your "must reads" of 2025. If you don't work in the industry, it's still such incredible insight into a life that is often glamorized, for better or worse.

Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever
Audio Version
Overall Grade: A-
Information: A
Writing/Organization: A-
Narration: A-
Best Aspect: Very detailed and interesting story about a person I knew nothing about. Fans of Anthony Bourdain will enjoy this.
Worst Aspect: Often sad, actually would have enjoyed more talk of food.
Recommend: Yes.

This was an interesting look behind the curtain from a woman navigating her own pain and addictions while working for two complicated culinary giants.