Reviewed by Jessica MacMurray Blaine

Heat, at its start, is two stories duking it out like a pair of quick-on-their-feet boxers. In one corner, the story of the author’s wildly bold career as a “kitchen slave” at Babbo, one of New York’s most celebrated restaurants. In the other, the story of how Babbo came to be, at the hands of the excessive, charming, talented Mario Batali—Food Network mega-star and iconic celebrity chef.

In the odd-numbered chapters, we see Buford in the Babbo kitchen, slicing and burning himself, being barked at by the professionals (who you have to think are wondering why their eccentric boss let this complete amateur—he didn’t even bring his own knives—into their inner sanctum). Through it all, he is remarkably unembarrassed and game, taking his hits while learning, bit by bit, how the intricate system of tasks and personalities play out in the kitchen.

In the even chapters, we get Mario. The book began as a profile of Batali in the New Yorker, but here, the profile has room to breathe, and we meet Mario’s family, follow him to restaurant life, apprenticeships in Italy and finally to the superstardom he enjoys today. Through it all, Buford is tactful without being vague, funny without overcrowding his subjects. He writes, in his introduction, “Sometimes I wondered if Batali was less a conventional cook than an advocate of a murkier enterprise of stimulating outrageous appetites (whatever they may be) and satisfying them intensely (by whatever means).” It’s a kind appraisal, and one that bears out in anecdote after well-told anecdote. Batali is a bizarre, entertaining Bacchus—made even more so by the success he finds at every turn.

As the book progresses, the boxing match gives way to Buford’s reportage. Much like it does for Batali, intensity of experience and passion for the food takes over. Buford goes to Italy and throws himself into following curiosities with a drive that clearly follows the adrenaline-laced, food-crazed tone set by Batali and Babbo. He makes pasta, butchers pigs, and realizes for himself the thing that makes Mario Batali so successful: there’s always more to learn. Why rest when there are more delicious tales to be told?