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Knives and Spoons
- Author
- Alasdair Gill
- Narrator
- Alasdair Gill
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 9 July 2026
- Run Time
- 6 hours 46 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Narrated by the author, Alasdair Gill.
'A story of hope, love, cooking and redemption. Brilliant' - Tom Parker-Bowles, food writer and critic
For readers of Kitchen Confidential and Tart, this is a candid insider account of life on the frontlines of London's food scene.
From working in some of London’s most prestigious restaurants to scrubbing fat from kitchen floors, Alasdair Gill’s life as a chef has been a series of exhilarating highs and harrowing lows. But so too has his private life. Taking readers behind the swinging kitchen doors of London’s dining scene, he shows us the major contradictions in his life, from crossing paths with Anthony Bourdain and preparing dishes for the ultra wealthy to hiding in drug-fuelled kitchen dens and a wake-up call that nearly ended his life.
Knives and Spoons is a raw and honest memoir that looks at the chaotic and often toxic world of professional kitchens, filled with fierce and unforgiving moments, but also a testament to the power of finding one’s craft and the long road to recovery.
'A vital new voice who speaks so powerfully about addiction' – Bryony Gordon, journalist
'It'll show all those who love The Bear how to really tear up a kitchen' - Camilla Long, journalist
'Magnificent, brutally honest and very funny . . . I never wanted it to stop' - Jon Spiteri, restaurateur
'Ali gives a proper insight into not only how he has worked, but into how he has thought . . . Do learn from him' - Jeremy King, restaurateur
Critics Review
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...dive straight into this tasting menu of bleak, savage and yet wonderfully funny and tender tales of grief, belonging and finding a reason to live. This is a memoir you want to savour, but is so compelling you can’t help but gobble down
Independent
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Gill writes very well. Brilliantly actually. He is better than his father . . . Knives And Spoons is less about food than addiction, psychological heebie-jeebie . . . Gill has horrifying personal knowledge of what it is like being on a knife's edge
Daily Mail
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A vital new voice who speaks so powerfully about addiction
Bryony Gordon
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Gill's funny, eye-opening and lyrical kitchen memoir is a must
Stylist
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Incredibly moving, heartbreaking, savage, vivid, shocking, immediate and of course very funny. It’ll also show all those who love The Bear how to really tear up a kitchen
Camilla Long
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Magnificent, powerful, brutally honest and a very funny book . . . I never wanted it to stop
Jon Spiteri
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Restaurant biographies tend to be boring and repetitive . . . but not in Ali’s account. He gives a proper insight into not only how he has worked, but how he has thought . . . It has been a privilege to observe him not only succeed in adversity, but thrive. Do learn from him
Jeremy King, Restaurateur
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Not only a beautifully written, outrageously funny tale of kitchen excess, but a story of hope, love, cooking and redemption. Brilliant
Tom Parker-Bowles
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Tragic, darkly funny and unexpectedly moving . . . He has also inherited his father's way with words
The Bookseller
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Alasdair Gill
- Narrator
- Alasdair Gill
- Duration
- 6 hours 46 minutes
- Release Date
- 9 July 2026
- ISBN
- 9781037401473
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Autobiography: general, Memoirs, Health, illness or addiction: social aspects, TV / Celebrity chef / eateries cookbooks
Synopsis
Narrated by the author, Alasdair Gill.'A story of hope, love, cooking and redemption. Brilliant' - Tom Parker-Bowles, food writer and criticFor readers of Kitchen Confidential and Tart, this is a candid insider account of life on the frontlines of London's food scene.From working in some of London’s most prestigious restaurants to scrubbing fat from kitchen floors, Alasdair Gill’s life as a chef has been a series of exhilarating highs and harrowing lows. But so too has his private life. Taking readers behind the swinging kitchen doors of London’s dining scene, he shows us the major contradictions in his life, from crossing paths with Anthony Bourdain and preparing dishes for the ultra wealthy to hiding in drug-fuelled kitchen dens and a wake-up call that nearly ended his life.Knives and Spoons is a raw and honest memoir that looks at the chaotic and often toxic world of professional kitchens, filled with fierce and unforgiving moments, but also a testament to the power of finding one’s craft and the long road to recovery.'A vital new voice who speaks so powerfully about addiction' – Bryony Gordon, journalist'It'll show all those who love The Bear how to really tear up a kitchen' - Camilla Long, journalist'Magnificent, brutally honest and very funny . . . I never wanted it to stop' - Jon Spiteri, restaurateur'Ali gives a proper insight into not only how he has worked, but into how he has thought . . . Do learn from him' - Jeremy King, restaurateur
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