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Acclaimed Memoirist Is Ready to Move Beyond Batali and Bourdain

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By Beth Saulnier

Laurie Woolever ’96 is well aware that some readers have been drawn to her recent memoir in the hope of gleaning insights into two high-profile men: Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. She was, after all, the personal assistant to both celebrity chefs, whose highs and lows made global headlines.

The former lost his career to a scandal over sexual harassment and workplace abuse, while the latter died by suicide after struggling with mental health issues and personal demons.

But as many critics have observed—and numerous readers have discovered—Woolever’s book is no mere celebrity-adjacent tell-all.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls it a “profane, exhilarating autobiography,” noting, “Woolever paints a raw portrait of the culinary world’s hypermasculine work culture, but she steers clear of playing the victim … These rowdy reflections enlighten and entertain.”

Titled Care and Feeding, the New York Times bestseller is a heartfelt, brutally honest tale of the author’s journey from a modest upbringing in Upstate New York, through Cornell and culinary school, and into the NYC foodie world at the height of the celebrity chef era.

“I graduated from college in 1996 and moved to New York with three things: a vague ambition to be a published writer, a yawning desire for validation, and a love of feeding others,” Woolever writes in the intro. “My parents had taught me to keep my head down and do my work, accept what’s offered, show up early, be polite, become indispensable. Beyond all that, I didn’t have much of a plan for the rest of my life.”

As Woolever’s readers soon learn, that life would be no less interesting for lack of a grand scheme.

I graduated from college in 1996 and moved to New York with three things: a vague ambition to be a published writer, a yawning desire for validation, and a love of feeding others.

She becomes the private chef to an ultrawealthy couple, catering to their sometimes bizarre dietary whims; works for Batali, who can be alternately generous and toxic; and eventually finds a more amenable—if still hugely stressful and demanding—job as the assistant to Bourdain, the globe-trotting superstar with an ardent following.

Her work with both chefs opens doors: she collaborates on their cookbooks and other projects, is connected to editors at major publications, and travels the world.

Laurie Woolever behind three men in a restaurant kitchen. Mario Batali is at right. — Woolever (glimpsed at rear) in the kitchen at Babbo with Batali (far right).

Along the way—and here is where much of that brutal honesty comes in—she not only drinks way too much and does copious amounts of drugs, but repeatedly cheats on her husband, leading to the end of her marriage.

She also becomes part of the #MeToo movement, sought out as a witness to some of Batali’s misdeeds—and finds herself questioning the extent to which she may have turned a blind eye rather than put her livelihood at risk.

Laurie Woolever and Anthony Bourdain sitting in a near-empty stadium — CNN

“She is a funny, acerbic, and empathetic writer,” says a New York Times review.

“One of the most refreshing aspects of Care and Feeding is that she doesn’t belabor the point that she was a hot mess. She simply inventories the handles of whiskey, rafts of gin and tonics, bottles of wine, and cases of beer. She doesn’t say she’s a pothead; she’s just high from the moment she wakes up. And she doesn’t say she’s addicted to sex but is always having it, often sordidly, generally drunkenly, frequently with strangers, sometimes with colleagues. There’s little judgment, just consequences, which pile up like a car crash as the pages turn.”

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She is a funny, acerbic, and empathetic writer. One of the most refreshing aspects of Care and Feeding is that she doesn’t belabor the point that she was a hot mess.
The New York Times

Asked if it was tough to put those challenges and failings on the page, Woolever—maybe surprisingly—says no.

“Those are the kinds of things I’ve always gravitated toward as a reader. I want to know the embarrassing stories, the mistakes, the disasters—because I think that the more we talk about them, the more they’re normalized, and the more we realize that everyone makes mistakes, has embarrassing moments, or does the wrong thing,” she says, chatting with Cornellians in summer 2025.

Laurie Woolever eating a po boy sandwich — bobby fisher

“So there’s something humanizing about these stories—and I’m telling them from the perspective of someone who was fortunate enough to pull out of the nosedive and figure out a better way to live.”

A natural resources major in CALS, Woolever held several part-time jobs during her undergrad years—including at Student Agencies and the long-departed Collegetown Video—and stayed in Ithaca over the summers to work on local organic farms.

She had originally majored in communication, and has long been interested in both cooking and writing.

Much of her memoir’s finely wrought and evocative detail is drawn from her journals and diaries, as well other documentation like emails, photo albums, and restaurant menus.

Much of her memoir’s finely wrought and evocative detail is drawn from her journals and diaries, as well other documentation like emails, photo albums, and restaurant menus.

“I have a really good memory, and sometimes insignificant details do stick with me,” she explains, “so there was a little bit of guesswork and fictionalizing—but a lot of it is supported by this record that I’ve kept for many years.”

And throughout, of course, there is food—from the nourishing meals she cooks her toddler to the hard-drinking, late-night feasts with Bourdain and crew to the culinary indulgences that punctuate some of her extramarital relationships.

“We had gin and tonics and 18 oysters and a bottle of Grüner Veltliner that smelled like grapefruit and parsley,” she writes of one rendezvous. “I opened and slowly devoured the floury little crackers from the plastic package while we talked about our home lives and our work, the places we’d been and the places we wanted to go.”

Laurie Woolever in a Cornell dorm room as a student — During her undergrad days.

Now living in Queens and the single mom of a teenage son, Woolever is focused on her writing career—with bylines in major media like the New York Times, Vogue, GQ, Food & Wine, and Saveur.

I have a really good memory, and sometimes insignificant details do stick with me, so there was a little bit of guesswork and fictionalizing—but a lot of it is supported by this record that I’ve kept for many years.

In 2021, Harper Collins published her book Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography, in which the late chef is remembered by friends, family, and famous colleagues like José Andrés and Nigella Lawson.

She’s currently at work on other potential book projects, and hopes that her memoir will be adapted as a streaming series.

Laurie Woolever in her culinary school chef's whites — In her chef's whites at culinary school.

“I’ve been lucky to be aligned professionally with some very big names that get people to take a second look. I’m grateful for that—but I’m more than just the former assistant to Batali and Bourdain,” Woolever says.

“So I’d like for my next book not to involve either one of them, because they cast a long shadow. From a marketing perspective, I’m not going to pretend it’s not valuable. But from a creative standpoint, I’m hoping that a publisher will take a chance on me telling my own stories. I think I’ve established my skill as a writer—and I still have a lot of good stories to tell.”

(Top: Woolever portrait by David Scott Holloway. All other images provided, unless otherwise indicated.)

Published October 2, 2025

Acclaimed Memoirist Is Ready to Move Beyond Batali and Bourdain

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