ABOUT THE BOOK
I’m Not High-Maintenance (As Long As Everything’s Perfect): A Chef’s Diary — 30 Years of Cooking, Kitchens, and Chaos
A private-chef memoir from inside the estates, kitchens, and lives most people never see. No recipes. No sugarcoating. Just the truth — funny, sharp, human — from three decades cooking for celebrities, captains of industry, and the families behind the gates.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Matthew Gladstone
I’ve spent thirty years cooking for people who live behind gates and expect everything to be perfect. I started in haute-cuisine catering — the kind done in private estates where the driveway is longer than most people’s commutes. I ran a couple of restaurants, then the kitchen of a boutique hotel on Rodeo Drive, and somewhere along the way I became a private chef to celebrities and captains of industry. My memoir is just the truth about all of it: the kitchens, the chaos, the characters, and the moments that still make me laugh years later.
FEATURED EXCERPT — Rodeo Drive / Aretha Franklin
(Permission granted by the author)
The only hotel on famed Rodeo Drive. A tiny 60-seat restaurant serving ladies-that-lunch bullshit — cucumber sandwiches, limp tea service, the whole charade.
Then in walks me: bright orange clogs, Hawaiian chef jackets, and zero intention of playing tea party.
I blew it up. Built a real menu. Suddenly, Rodeo Drive had a restaurant that mattered. Happy hours were packed, nights were buzzing, and for the first time, there was energy in a room that had flatlined for years.
And then one night, Aretha Franklin walked in. My goddess. The Queen of Soul. My all-time ultimate. I couldn’t say a word to her — I was paralyzed.
So I did the only thing I could: I walked out of the kitchen, set a note on her table, and it said, “Thank you for making music important. You are beyond brilliant. Dinner is on me.”
And then I walked away. Didn’t look back, didn’t ask for a handshake, didn’t need a photo. That was it.
To this day, it’s one of the proudest moments of my career.
Not because Aretha Franklin ate my food — but because I had the guts to shut up, bow my head, and say thanks.
BOOK LINKS
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXTQDN6Z
Author Website: MatthewGladstone.com
MEDIA CONTACT
Matthew Gladstone