Local chef's culinary comeback book hits Amazon

Local chef: Don’t call it a comeback London chef has a new autobiography and attitude following the abrupt closing of her restaurant. CTV London’s Jordyn Read reports.

London, Ont. — Local professional chef, Yoda Olinyk, had to close down her restaurant in 2017.

Just three years later, Olinyk owns her own catering company and is now an author with her first book becoming an instant hit on Amazon.

Olinyk says her book, Salt & Sour is a story of how failures can be a recipe for success. It’s a memoir and cookbook with 17 recipes all linked to a food memory.

“For me I had a very loud voice that was telling me not to open a restaurant, as a result I paid the consequences which was losing the restaurant and losing my life savings,” says Olinyk.

Olinyk says that the culinary industry is sometimes glamorized on TV and that mental health, vices and addiction run rampant behind the scenes.

“People sort of come into the industry believing that they are going to have all of this glory and they are going to be celebrities…like Gordon Ramsey and throw things across the kitchen, that’s just not the reality.”

Olinyk’s autobiography discusses the ups and the downs in the cooking world and how she regained her spark for cooking once she left her restaurant and opened up her own catering company.

Each recipe is linked to a memory, one called Sara’s Melon Gazpacho, is the last meal that was cooked in her restaurant.

“There’s a moment when Sara, (an employee), fed me a spoon of this cold melon soup and the way that it soothed me, it’s just a moment I will remember forever.”

Olinyk says her biggest advice for future chefs is to not normalize unhealthy aspects of the industry and to always listen to their inner voice.

And most importantly, everyone loves a comeback.

“I’m completely overwhelmed by it, I cant believe how many copies we’ve sold, and I say we, but I mean me.”