Summary
Dear Friends of Good Food and Fine Wine,
As a child growing up in Pomerania, Joe Mannke learned early and well the value of keeping his head down. That was a major survival skill as Nazi Germany came apart at the seams and Soviet tanks rolled not only through his village but through his own backyard. Yet years as a penniless refugee and then living off the land in Bavaria only served to intensify the single profound dream young Joe ever harbored – to come to America and, like so many immigrants before him, become a millionaire.
More than half a century after the end of World War II, Mannke has realized his shimmering dream – indeed, many pieces of that dream – several times over. As a chef, he has cooked in some of the most esteemed kitchens across Europe, yet also set down roots in places as legendary as The Stork Club in New York and Anthony’s Pier Four in Boston. In one of his life’s most dazzling turns, he was selected by the Walt Disney organization to help launch their theme park in Orlando. Always a believer in magic – and especially the “magic” of hard work – Mannke learned a lot of valuable lessons while cooking for The Mouse.
His is a highly personal story of a highly unlikely life, one driven into fast-forward at regular intervals by talent, ambition, self-confidence and the haunting memory of exactly how dark life can be. Penned with veteran author John DeMers, Mannke details the strange road that carried him from a village in Pomerania (then German now part of Poland) to the city of Houston in Texas, where he finally achieved his boyhood dream. Along the way, the joys and sorrows of friends and family flesh out every page of his memories, as does the satisfaction of entering his mature years in a happy marriage with two grown and successful daughters.
In addition to these rich experiences from his business life, Mannke shares generously in these pages from the vast store of information and recipes he has picked up in his lifetime of travel to the great culinary and wine regions. To Joe Mannke, in more ways then one, life truly is about mileage. To him, life truly is about wanderlust.
For details visit : www.bistro-lecep.com
Bon appétit
