The Bottomless Cup: A Memoir of Secrets, Restaurants, and Forgiveness

Kevin Boehm, a James Beard Award–winning restaurateur, has opened 40 restaurants over a 30-year career. His Boka Group is now one of the world's most successful restaurant companies. He has worked with line cooks and celebrity chefs, experienced setbacks, and earned Michelin stars. Boehm's journey began with a turbulent family life and a shocking revelation about his father, which sent him searching for a home. He found it in restaurants, among other gifted and damaged people. There he discovered the magic of hospitality and the intensity of a dining room on the edge of chaos. This memoir chronicles Boehm's life in and out of restaurants—dropping out and finding his place, opening nights and their aftermath, interactions with chefs, partners, guests, and critics. It is an account of ambition and adrenaline, of reaching remarkable highs and confronting their costs.