leonard gentieu

“Dining out? Here’s a glimpse of the secret world of chaos simmering behind the swinging kitchen doors. Prepare to be astonished.” — Lynn Carter, retired president, Capital One Bank; board member, American Express Centurion Bank.

“Industry secrets from an out-of-the-frying-pan and into-the-fire Professional Chef.” — Lu Chi Fa, restaurateur and author of Double Luck: Memoir of a Chinese Orphan

“Rare insights. Medium mellow dramas. Well-done restaurant view. Seasoned with love and laughter. Served fresh.” — Bruce Schwartz, retired CEO of Sysco Foods, Los Angeles

Experience A Chef’s Fifty-Year Journey! Beginning as a dishwasher, on to the Army mess tents, through a “day from hell” at one of his successful restaurants, to his thriving charter dinner cruise business. An insider’s exploration of the challenges and triumphs of a life in the kitchen—told with humor, frankness, optimism, and his favorite recipes!

Chasing the Heat is a classic American tale of hard work, middle class struggle and the desire to make something of yourself no matter what obstacles life might put in your way – whether a learning disability, war, failure, death, more failure, love and loss, you name it. Chef Gentieu’s story shuns the exasperated tone of misunderstood creative genius, the rage of punk rebellion and the grandeur of Falstaffian excess that you find in so many other chef books. His true life experiences from the rough-and-tumble world of restaurant ownership over multiple decades, along with the lessons he took from those moments, make for an entertaining, informative and inspiring memoir that can appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in the American dream and the world of food. Readers will see there is a lot more to the restaurant business than “for here or to-go” and “rare, medium or well-done.”

About Leonard Gentieu: Chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur and teacher with decades of experience, Chef Gentieu’s professional record is both varied and deep. An honors graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he also served with the U.S. Army as a chef for two three-star generals. He has owned and operated five restaurants and spent the ’90s in a number of Executive Chef and management positions at restaurants, resorts and clubs throughout Central California. Currently Chef Gentieu and his wife, Midge, own and operate Papagallo Yacht Charters in Morro Bay, California.