Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever – A Reckoning of the Restaurant World's Dark Side
- Danielle Christine
- Mar 18
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Laurie Woolever has worn many hats in the food world—assistant, writer, insider, witness. She worked for Mario Batali from 1999 to 2002, then spent nearly a decade as Anthony Bourdain’s right hand, collaborating on his books and television projects until his death in 2018. Her new memoir, Care and Feeding, released one week ago today from Ecco, is a raw, unfiltered account of what it meant to operate in the orbit of high-profile, high-voltage men in an industry that has long thrived on excess and ego.
A decade after allegations against Batali helped ignite the #MeToo reckoning in fine dining, exposing decades of unchecked abuse, Woolever pulls back the curtain on the wreckage left behind by the Bad Boy Chef Era. But Care and Feeding isn’t just about the men who shaped her career—it’s about navigating ambition, complicity, and survival in a male-dominated world and reckoning with the high-risk behaviors that bound them all together.
Laurie Woolever’s Care and Feeding offers a raw, unfiltered look at the power dynamics, toxicity, and unspoken truths that have shaped the modern restaurant industry. As an insider who worked as Batali’s assistant and later became Anthony Bourdain’s trusted collaborator until his death in 2018, Woolever delivers an intimate, firsthand account of what it meant to operate within these circles. Having co-authored books with both men, she brings a unique perspective—one that’s neither blind to their talent nor dismissive of their failings.