Feast and Famine of a Culinary Vagabond: A True Story of the Travel, Adventures and Survival of a German Immigrant Who Rose to be Alaska Airlines' Executive Chef

This is the compelling story of one tough chef who rose to the top of his profession like cream. His story begins at his ancestral home in Eastern Prussia, as he escapes with his mother and twin brother before an advancing Russian Army in the final hours of World War II. Amidst the death and destruction of the final throes of the Third Reich, he barely escapes the advancing Red Army by ship to Denmark. Returning to a war-flattened Germany, the author becomes an apprentice chef in order to avoid starvation. After a great deal of hard work, he earns a valuable culinary arts and dining services diploma which leads him to jobs at some of the continent's finest hotels and restaurants in Switzerland and Germany. After some relaxing escapades in Rio and South America, Wolfgang Erbe emigrates to the U.S. where he is quickly snapped up by Sardi's in New York City. After encounters with public figures and celebrities, he begins his own restaurant in suburban Washington DC, becoming friends with White House Chef Henry Haller. Despite his success and hard driving style, the author treads down the road of self-destruction and despair as a consequence of youthful trauma and an unfulfilled ambition to become a naturalist or forester, his initial chosen path. After years of despair, Erbe rebuilds his life through grit and determination and recalling his youthful mental toughness, stamina and professional acumen. Before serving as Executive Chef at Alaska Airlines in a period when passengers looked forward to their meals on board the exceptional carrier, he travels to Asia. While working for Marriott Corp., he finds himself in Tokyo on a mission to win the Japan Airlines in-flight food service account. Guided by Eastern religion he finds a spiritual path and discovers a road to enlightenment, serenity and learning to let go of the past. This is a fascinating tale that brings the reader full circle from a war torn Europe filled with despair at the end of a world war, to personal accomplishment and triumph a half century later in the U.S. and Asia.