Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef by Slutty CheffPublication Date: August 5, 2025
Pages: 336
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★½
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Culinary
Publisher: S&S / Marysue Rucci Books
An Instant Sunday Times (London) Bestseller
A New York Times Best Nonfiction Book of Summer 2025
A Vogue Best Book of 2025 So Far
A Service95 Must-Read Book of 2025A hilarious, hot, and steamy account of coming of age in and out of the kitchen, from the anonymous chef and columnist, Slutty Cheff.
“It’s the two best things in the world: food and sex.”
When Slutty Cheff finds herself bored and fed-up with her 9–5 job in corporate marketing, she turns to the only thing that she really likes to do: cooking. So she quits her job, swaps emails for emulsions, and sets off to pursue her dreams of becoming a chef.
The world of London’s fine dining restaurants is so much more than she imagined: it’s more challenging, and more exciting too. There are the exhausting lows of sixty-hour work weeks in windowless kitchens, and the shock of stepping into the changing room as the only woman. There are the thrilling highs of a busy night, when service is running smoothly; electrifying run-ins with hot bartenders and even hotter chefs; and, always, the exhilaration of cycling hands-free through a city that is still sleeping, on a morning where anything can happen.
This is a story about searching for your purpose, and experiencing and embracing life to the fullest along the way. The pleasure and the chaos too…
An exquisite mix of raw Anthony Bourdain-style honesty with the sharp wit of Lena Dunham’s Girls, Tart is THE book for those who like to eat and f**k.
REVIEW
Slutty Cheff’s Tart isn’t your grandmother’s cooking memoir. This raw, raucous debut from an anonymous London chef strips away the glossy Food Network veneer to expose professional kitchens in all their sweaty, profane glory.
The story starts with a familiar escape fantasy, ditching a corporate desk job for the rush of restaurant life. But where most food memoirs drift into misty-eyed romanticism, “Tart” keeps it real. Our narrator dives headfirst into sixty-hour weeks in testosterone-filled kitchens, where she’s usually the only woman in sight. She captures the controlled chaos of service, the post-shift drinks that blur into sunrise, and the complex dance of trying to date while smelling perpetually of garlic and fish.
The writing sizzles with the same energy as a Saturday night kitchen. Like Anthony Bourdain before her, Slutty Cheff has a gift for making you feel the heat of the line and taste the staff meal eaten while sitting on an upturned bucket. But she brings something new to the table, a sharp female perspective on an industry where women still fight to be taken seriously.
Between tales of kitchen disasters and triumphs, she serves up biting commentary on gender politics, professional ambition, and yes, sex (this is not a book for the prudish). The anonymous author writes about all of it with a wit that cuts like a well-honed knife.
The narrative occasionally wanders, like a tipsy chef after closing time. But even these detours feel authentic, adding to the book’s intimate, late-night-conversation vibe. And while some readers might flinch at the spicier content, it’s never gratuitous, just honest.
Tart earned its spot on my shelf next to Kitchen Confidential. It’s a love letter to finding your place in the world, even if that place involves burns, cuts, and questionable life choices. For anyone who’s ever dreamed of throwing away their office job to chase a passion, or just wants to know what really happens behind those kitchen doors – this book delivers the goods.
4.5/5 stars – Come for the kitchen drama, stay for the brutal honesty and sharp wit.
