Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: chef and author Al Brown, whose book Hooked: Learning to Fish was awarded the Booksellers Choice Children’s Award 2026.

The book I wish I’d written

While I’m most likely known as a chef, the part of my career that really drives and intrigues me more than anything is the power of genuine connection, and the role that great service plays not just in hospitality but across all businesses in general. In the restaurant, everything costs me something: the chair you sit on, the wine you are sipping, the plate you’re eating off, the team member who is looking after you. But “service” is really the only thing that doesn’t cost me or you anything. The value proposition of great or even good service, is simply off the charts.

I have just finished reading a book called Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. It’s about a famous restaurant in New York that one of my hospitality heroes Danny Meyer started in 1998. It tells of taking “Eleven Madison Park” from number 50 in the world’s top 50 restaurants to the number one spot over a number of years, essentially by looking at every detail of service and elevating it. While the food was always fabulous it was the service that got them to the top. A super inspiring read, a real page turner and it reinforced how I feel about the effect of amazing, thoughtful and genuine connection. 

The book everyone should read

Lessons On Living by Nigel Latta. Nigel was a real taonga, a national treasure. This book is so poignant, so beautifully written. It made me howl with laughter, while also I shedding many tears. Nigel’s brain worked in such mysterious and wonderful ways. His ability to explain his insights through words and storytelling was an absolute gift. While incredibly clever, smart and intellectual, I think it was his caring down-to-earth nature and warmth that resonated with New Zealanders young and old. 

The book I want to be buried with

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

The first book I remember reading by myself

Jack and the Beanstalk. “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell blood of an Englishman.”

I wish I’d never read

I have never read a book I wish I hadn’t. I give books typically a 20-page grace period, if I’m not into it by then, it is put down never to be picked up again.

Fiction or non-fiction

Non-fiction. I like true stuff mainly.

If I could only read three books for the rest of my life they would be

The Dog That Dug by Jonathan Long; my favourite children’s book that I loved to read to my two daughters when they were growing up. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; The Cider House Rules by John Irving.

Encounter with an author

Anthony Bourdain. I had the good fortune to host him for three days in the Far North when Anthony was here in New Zealand filming A Cook’s Tour.

I was also fortunate to interview AA Gill at the Auckland Writers Festival one year. My brother and I took him out on the harbour in a tinny and caught kahawai on the fly rod … a magical experience that bonded us in a small way. I also got to hang out with him and his partner Nicola Fornby in London on one occasion that was equally special. His razor-sharp wit, sense of humour, along with that tortured soul from his earlier years, made for such a unique and beautiful human being. Boy could he write, even with his crippling dyslexia. RIP mate! 

Best thing about reading

The best thing about reading is that it is your mind that draws the picture or creates the movie in your head, an original that is solely yours. I think it is also the escapism that picking up a book affords you. No distraction, just a chance of solitude, its giving you permission for some important “me time” while nurturing your soul.   

Best food memory from a book

Making my first batch of Hokey Pokey from the Edmonds Cook Book.

Best place to read

Saturday afternoon between two and 4pm in bed, three pillows, start reading, nod off, wake, start reading again, repeat … mind the drooling!

Hooked: Learning to Fish by Al Brown and illustrated by Hope McConnell ($35, Allen & Unwin NZ) is available to purchase at Unity Books.