Knives and Spoons

An insider account about the burn of the kitchen and the bite of addiction from a London chef and son of the late food critic A. A. Gill.

An insider account about the burn of the kitchen and the bite of addiction from London chef Alasdair Gill.

'. . . dive straight into this tasting menu of bleak, savage and yet wonderfully funny and tender tales of grief, belonging and finding a reason to live. This is a memoir you want to savour, but is so compelling you can’t help but gobble down' – Independent

'Gill writes very well. Brilliantly actually. He is better than his father . . . Knives And Spoons is less about food than addiction, psychological heebie-jeebie . . . Gill has horrifying personal knowledge of what it is like being on a knife's edge' – Daily Mail

'A vital new voice who speaks so powerfully about addiction' – Bryony Gordon, journalist


From working in some of London’s most prestigious restaurants to scrubbing fat from kitchen floors, Alasdair Gill’s life as a chef has been a series of exhilarating highs and harrowing lows. But so too has his private life. Taking readers behind the swinging kitchen doors of London’s dining scene, he shows us the major contradictions in his life, from crossing paths with Anthony Bourdain and preparing dishes for the ultra wealthy to hiding in drug-fuelled kitchen dens and a wake-up call that nearly ended his life.

Knives and Spoons is a raw and honest look at the chaotic and often toxic world of professional kitchens, filled with fierce and unforgiving moments, but also a testament to the power of finding one’s craft and the long road to recovery.

For readers of Kitchen Confidential and Tart, this is a candid insider account of life on the frontlines of London's food scene.


'It'll show all those who love The Bear how to really tear up a kitchen' - Camilla Long, journalist

'Gill's funny, eye-opening and lyrical kitchen memoir is a must' - Stylist

'Magnificent, brutally honest and very funny . . . I never wanted it to stop' - Jon Spiteri, restaurateur

'Ali gives a proper insight into not only how he has worked, but into how he has thought . . . Do learn from him' - Jeremy King, restaurateur

'A story of hope,...