Appetites (ePub)

In a memoir as candid as it is inspirational, Marie LeNotre shares insights and experiences from a life that has taken her on a difficult road out of war-torn Greece to a seemingly fairytale life in France, and then to a challenging, ultimately rewarding, existence in Texas. Now both wife and business partner to famed French chef Alain LeNotre, Marie recognized the emptiness of her early experiences as a model and movie actress. Sacrificing the glamour and renown available to her because of her striking natural beauty, she has instead shared a richly rewarding life envisioning, launching, expanding and operating one of the nation's most respected culinary institutes. At every turn of her journey, she has embraced life to the fullest and lived it on her own terms, no matter the difficulty. Appetites crosses decades, generations and marriages. It tells of Marie's youthful meandering from dream to dream-beginning with her mother's misplaced dreams--as well as her slow awakening to the opposite sex in surprising and disillusioning encounters with dashing celebrities from the postwar Greek film industry. Her struggle to identify herself as an authentic and unique individual, rather than as a reflection of her parents' or a man's desires, will resonate with any woman who has navigated the waters of modern relationships. Through Marie's experiences, the reader also learns the story of a sublimely gifted and successful French culinary dynasty, one whose smiling public face covered up not only years of private dysfunction but also the slow betrayal of loyal and devoted son by his illustrious father. The strength that Marie gained on her personal journey enabled her to work side-by-side with Alain, understanding and encouraging him until he emerged from the ashes of his family and his own first marriage to have the success as both chef and entrepreneur that his family had tried to deny him. Marie has experienced world wars and civil wars, known friends and competitors, seen successes and failures, felt celebrations and betrayals and taken lovers and borne children. Now she speaks frankly and intimately, giving each colorful incident the wisdom that comes only years after the raw emotion has settled. Her experiences have culminated in the founding of the LeNotre Culinary Institute in Houston, a project born of Gaston LeNotre's hubris but carried forth more humbly and genuinely by his only son Alain and the wife, business partner and best friend he was lucky enough to find and gather into his embrace.