California Soul

Starred review from June 13, 2022
In this exhilarating saga of drugs, crime, and culinary passion, Corbin traces his remarkable rise from a life behind bars to a successful career as a chef. Born, quite literally, into the “drug game” (“my uncle used to carry me around and sell drugs out of my diaper”), Corbin’s cooking began with making crack in his teens, a skill that eventually grew into an enterprise with Corbin and his partner shipping drugs around the country. It wasn’t until Corbin landed in prison at age 23 that his culinary path began. Working in the prison kitchen, Corbin found an escape while also honing his craft: “I tried to tweak... until I got the best fucking spread you’d ever tried.” After six years in prison, Corbin was released in 2010, and got a job as a line cook at a high-end fast-food joint in his L.A. neighborhood. Though he went on to become the chef and face of Alta Adams, a fine-dining restaurant in the city, Corbin reveals his path to success as an ex-felon was far from easy, and it’s his brutally candid depiction of “what it’s like to grow up Black in America under some of the worst circumstances” that makes this story of perseverance hit hard. Readers shouldn’t miss this.

January 1, 2023

South Central L.A.-raised Corbin narrates his remarkable memoir about culinary success with brutal honesty and a flair for storytelling. Corbin grew up in Watts, where his grandmother cooked for the neighborhood in a kitchen full of soul-food staples; this upbringing spawned a lifelong love of food. From a young age, Corbin was surrounded by gang culture and drugs, beginning to cook crack as a teenager, and eventually ending up in prison. While incarcerated, Corbin worked in the kitchen, honing his craft and later landing a job at Locol, the innovative restaurant founded by Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson, meant to offer good food at low prices in food deserts. Corbin's husky and emotive narration of the audiobook showcases his vulnerability, especially when discussing his struggles with addiction. Corbin's tone and delivery are self-aware. He's careful not to lean on a conventional redemption arc but instead fesses up to moments of self-sabotage with a healthy serving of curse words. Peppered with rebukes of mass incarceration and institutionalized racism, the memoir's genuine emotion resonates. VERDICT Corbin's gritty and forthright book is perfect for fans of chef memoirs like Notes from a Young Black Chef and Kitchen Confidential.--Lizzie Nolan

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