A few words about the book

THE BOOK
Marisa Mangani - Recipient of American Culinary Federation - Silver Medal
American Culinary Federation - Silver Medal
American Culinary Federation - Silver Medal

Marisa’s comfort zone is deep inside the restaurant kitchen alongside its dysfunctional characters and the abundance of booze and drugs.

But in the nineteen-seventies, girls baked or made salads. The heat and machismo of the hot line was not a place for a girl with a passion for food and the drive to be the best.

From Hawaii, to Portland and New Orleans, she struggles  with her own shyness and the limited expectations for the only female in the kitchen. She finally becomes Chef, successfully managing high-volume restaurants at three World’s Fairs, but something is missing.

Still searching, as a burnt-out chef, she embarks on another male-dominated career.

Mise en Place —Memoir of a Girl Chef is a story about the determination to succeed in the face of personal handicaps and cultural norms.

THE BOOK
Marisa Mangani - Recipient of American Culinary Federation - Silver Medal
American Culinary Federation - Silver Medal
American Culinary Federation - Silver Medal

A few words about the book

Marisa’s comfort zone is deep inside the restaurant kitchen alongside its dysfunctional characters and the abundance of booze and drugs.

But in the nineteen-seventies, girls baked or made salads. The heat and machismo of the hot line was not a place for a girl with a passion for food and the drive to be the best.

From Hawaii, to Portland and New Orleans, she struggles  with her own shyness and the limited expectations for the only female in the kitchen. She finally becomes Chef, successfully managing high-volume restaurants at three World’s Fairs, but something is missing.

Still searching, as a burnt-out chef, she embarks on another male-dominated career.

Mise en Place —Memoir of a Girl Chef is a story about the determination to succeed in the face of personal handicaps and cultural norms.

Book Reviews

“Kitchen designer and seasoned chef Mangani details her winding road from Hawaii to Florida, and from grueling work to a life of balance, an achievement she expresses moving gratitude for while inviting readers into her world today, of a daughter, a healthy male partner, and— miraculously —full two-day weekends off. Starting with her childhood in Hawaii, she threads her relationship with food throughout significant life events: ...”
dinner of fresh rich juicy grilled beef meat steak fillet with marks on wooden plate over white table served with vegetable salad and cutlery
“Mangani charts a deep dive through the roots of our modern American food obsession with a highly personal tale of memory, character, flavor and place.”
Ian McNulty
food writer, The New Orleans Times-Picayune
“Mise en Place--Memoir of a Girl Chef is a bitingly honest view of a life lived in oyster bars, fish camps, and restaurant kitchens. Flavorful, rich, and evocative, Marisa Mangani’s memoir offers readers not just tales of food and cooking, but a provocative examination of the choices we make and the pasts that might have been.”
Dinty W. Moore
author of To Hell With It
appetizer closeup of different seafood and vegetables
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marisa Mangani

She almost cooked dinner for Bruce Springsteen
but sometimes life is not fair

Marisa Mangani was born and raised in Hawaii.

Finding her niche as a culinarian at a young age, she cooked her way to New Orleans and some of that city’s finest restaurants.

A pivot put Marisa in the kitchen at World Expo ’84, and from there she went on to manage high-volume international food concessions and restaurants at Expo ’86 in Vancouver and Expo ’88 in Brisbane.

She is one of the eight featured chefs in Thrillist’s “Why 8 Top Chefs Quit the Kitchen.” 

AVAILABLE NOW

My book is available at these online stores  

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Mise en Place - Book Cover
AVAILABLE SOON AT
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Awards

01

Global Book Awards in Women’s Biography

02

Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Book Award

Check out some of Marisa’s
published Stories and Essays

Eclectica Magazine
Jul/Aug 2022

Eating Salad
with a Spoon

Adelaide Magazine
November 2021
Sleet Magazine
Fall/Winter 2020

Adelaide Magazine
January 2020

Aji Magazine
November 2019

Entropy Magazine
September 2016

Nominated for a Pushcart 2016
Sandhill Review 2016

Nominated for Sundress Best of the Net Anthology 2016
Sleet Magazine
Spring/Summer 2016

Marisa is one of the featured chefs

Thrill List
July 2015

Check out some of Marisa’s published Stories and Essays

Eclectica Magazine
Jul/Aug 2022

Eating Salad
with a Spoon

Adelaide Magazine
November 2021

Sleet Magazine
Fall/Winter 2020
Adelaide magazine
January 2020
Aji Magazine
November 2019

Entropy Magazine
September 2016

Nominated for a Pushcart 2016
Sandhill Review
2016

Nominated for Sundress Best of the Net Anthology 2016
Sleet Magazine
Spring/Summer 2016

Marisa is one of the featured chefs

Thrill List
July 2015
PRESS
 Marisa in the News

SRQ MAGAZINE

Click on the image to read the article

Interview in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

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PODCAST

marisa-podcast

"Tales, triumphs and tribulations of a chef’s life"

By John Morton

Click on the image to read the article
Click on the image to read the article