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No\xa0writer\xa0has spent more time working and hanging out with great chefs than\xa0Andrew\xa0Friedman. So when I heard\xa0that\xa0his long-awaited\xa0book chronicling\xa0chef\xa0culture in the US\u2014Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll\u2014had finally been published, how could I not invite him on Special Sauce?\xa0

Friedman has collaborated with\xa0outstanding\xa0chefs on more than two dozen cookbooks, and he's not even as old as me. What intrigues him about\xa0this world?\xa0"Chefs are like snowflakes. I mean,\xa0no two are alike. The way people come to this profession, the way they develop...their style, their\xa0palate, their knowledge base, their\xa0skill set;\xa0I like the sort of peripatetic nature of it. You kind of assemble your own curriculum as you go from job to job,\xa0and often that means going all over the country,\xa0or all over the world." \xa0 How does he decide\xa0whom\xa0to work with?\xa0"The most important thing for me... is a point of view. I tell people,\xa0I cannot manufacture a point of view...\xa0If somebody's just coming to me with a collection of recipes, I can't help them. I mean,\xa0I could write the book, but I don't want to write that book. I've done too many books. It'll seem phoned in. I need something that's gonna engage me." \xa0 If\xa0you're at all interested in chefs or the culture that's grown\xa0up\xa0around them,\xa0part\xa0one\xa0of my interview with Andrew Friedman will\xa0definitely\xa0engage you. Next week, he and I talk about\xa0Chefs, Drugs, and Rock & Roll, his\xa0new deep dive of a\xa0book. Great title, don't you think?\xa0 \xa0 You can find a full transcript of this episode over at Serious Eats.