Talk of the town

Michael Ruhlman is a big name in the world of food writers. After publishing his first book and establishing a career as a food journalist, he came up with the idea of writing a first-person account of what it's like to train as a cook at the fiercely competitive Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. The book, The Making of a Chef, spawned The Soul of a Chef and The Reach of a Chef, and collaborations with top cooks such as Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in New York) and Eric Ripert (of Le Bernardin in New York).

Ruhlman's foodie website, blog.ruhlman.com is quite technical, often including excerpts from his book, The Elements of Cooking, but is enlivened with gossip, information about food programmes, critiques, praise for newspaper food columns and playful jibes at chef friends, such as television presenter, author and bad boy chef, Anthony Bourdain.