Why I Cook

Tom Colicchio cooked his first recipe at 13 years old—a stuffed eggplant from an issue of Cuisine magazine that he picked up out of boredom—and it changed his life. 

Listeners are in for a treat as the talented Will Damron (who has read over 700 audiobooks) delivers an immersive account of Emmy Award-winning celebrity chef and beloved restaurateur Tom Colicchio’s life, challenges, and success. 

With warmth and tenderness, Damron navigates the extraordinary personal journey that brought Tom from his working-class Italian background in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to the award-winning kitchens of New York City’s best restaurants, to the set of Top Chef and the stage of the Emmy Awards.

Through 10 memoir chapters, 60 recipes, and expertise that spans more than 40 years behind the stove, Why I Cook is the most personal look into Tom’s life yet as it chronicles the dishes and memories that shaped him as a person and chef.

The audio edition of Why I Cook includes an accompanying PDF and more than 30 minutes of bonus content, where Tom shares additional reflections on his early life, its connection to his professional career, his culinary experiments, and much more.