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

The enticing debut from restaurateur Boehm marries a love letter to the hospitality industry with a chronicle of his mental health struggles. Raised in 1970s and ’80s Illinois by an energetic mother and an exacting father, Boehm learned at 18 that his biological father was actually an older family friend. Sent reeling into adulthood by that revelation, Boehm fell into restaurant work in Chicago, thriving on the fast-paced flow of waiting tables. Alongside business partner Rob Katz, he formed the Boka Restaurant Group in the early aughts, which now includes three Michelin-starred spots, among them Chicago’s Boka and L.A.’s Girl & the Goat. In a business with slim profit margins, Boehm’s successes always felt impermanent, and shortly after he and Katz won a James Beard Award in 2019, Covid-19 forced the closure of some of their restaurants, stripping away his lifelong defenses. As his mental health plummeted and led him to contemplate suicide, Boehm came to realize that “throwing ambition at trauma was like Band-Aiding a bullet wound,” and sought healing through therapy. Foodies, aspiring entrepreneurs, and readers sifting through their own family wounds will find plenty to chew on. This satisfies. Photos. Agent: David Black, David Black Agency. (Nov.)