Memoirs are often lauded as being brave, candid, honest and raw. This is all of those things, along with being penned by an experienced writer who owns a cleverly fashioned unique style underscored by self-deprecating humour. Woolever is a chef and food writer and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry – Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. How she got into this industry, and where – or whether – she belongs in it, and the impacts this obsessive occupation have had on herself and her family, is the focus of the narrative.
The confidence with which Woolever writes wasn’t always apparent. She surprised herself by finding it with food. The ‘care and feeding’ of the title also mostly applies to others. Woolever often cared little for herself and fed herself toxic things. She possessed self-destruct buttons – drugs and alcohol – which she pushed with monotonous regularity and with devastating effect. Not that she was helped by some in the industry, either. Batali once introduced her as one of his prostitutes. Her relationship with Bourdain, on the other hand, was nurturing. She describes him as a friend and collaborator. Both chefs became celebrities but may not have that level of success without Woolever – the unseen woman in the background. Life at home wasn’t as successful. She details the times she failed as a wife and mother.
In Care and Feeding Woolever holds contrary views of herself: as an addict, she believed she was utterly worthless, and yet she still believed the world rotated around her. This substantial book reveals how Woolever eventually learned to nurture herself.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I’m a writer, editor, public speaker, and former cook. For nearly a decade, I worked as the lieutenant to the late author, TV host and producer Anthony Bourdain.
I’ve written for the New York Times, Vogue, GQ, Food & Wine, Lucky Peach (RIP), Saveur, Bloomberg, Dissent, Roads & Kingdoms, and others. In 1996, I earned my bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, after which I moved to New York, dicked around for a few years, then completed the professional training program at the French Culinary Institute, where chef-instructor Pascal Béric gave me the single best piece of advice I’ve ever received: ‘Don’t freak out! Freaking out is not gonna help.’
I’ve been a private cook, nanny, caterer, writer, busgirl, recipe tester, farm hand, video store clerk, and a food editor. I worked as Mario Batali’s assistant from 1999 to 2002, during which time I contributed to the writing of his books.
In 2016, I co-authored with Anthony Bourdain. Our second collaboration, World Travel: An Irreverent Guide hit the New York Times bestseller list at #1. In September 2021,
I co-authored, with Richard Hart, the James Beard Award-winning Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking. My memoir, Care and Feeding, was published in March 2025. I co-host a food-focused podcast, Carbface for Radio, with affable shit-stirrer Chris Thornton, and am a writer for Flaming Hydra, a creator-owned newsletter collective.
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