FoodGal is my pal here is her newsletter

Take Five with Lauren Shockey: First-Time Author on Her Adventures Cooking in Top Restaurants Around the World      Not long after graduating from the French Culinary Institute in New York, Lauren Shockey set about plying her skills in four top restaurant kitchens around the globe at the tender age of 24. Her journey through these four stages or unpaid apprenticeships started at famed molecular gastronomy temple, wd~50 in New York; followed by La Verticale in Vietnam; then Carmella Bistro in Israel; and finally, Michelin two-star Senderens in Paris. Along the way, she discovered new dishes, flavors and techniques, of course. But more so, she came to realize where her heart truly lies when it comes to cooking. Now, 27, and a restaurant critic for New York's Village Voice, Shockey recounts her experience vividly, with plenty of humor and provocative insight, in her debut book, "Four Kitchens: My Life Behind the Burner in New York, Hanoi, Tel Aviv, and Paris'' (Grand Central). The book, which also includes recipes for dishes inspired by her time in these kitchens, is a delight to read for anyone who's ever contemplated cooking on the line or only fantasized about it. And I'm not just saying that because I had the chance to meet Shockey when we both found ourselves as part of a group of food writers invited to tour Quebec. Click here to read more of my interview with Lauren Shockey.