Soul Kitchen

Ruhlman's preppy good looks offered the perfect foil for the skinny, strung-out-looking Bourdain. But while the two made it a point to trade jabs with each other throughout the show, Bourdain's off-camera respect for Ruhlman could hardly be more heartfelt.

"He can drink like a champion, to no apparent ill effects, takes a ball-busting like a hero, and gives it back double," Bourdain says, "and as much as I've tried -- mightily and persistently -- to lead him astray, he remains, I'm afraid, a deeply moral, decent man. Why I hang out with him, I . . . just . . . don't . . . know."

(The No Reservations incident also illustrates what an incestuous little community the culinary inner circle really is. Turns out, Bourdain's Vegas adventure began as an assignment from Gourmet; you can read all about it in the October 2005 edition. As for the article's references to a mysterious "Mr. Black," Bourdain's anonymous dining companion? That would be Ruhlman, of course. Then, as a bonus, turn to page 78 and check out "Love to Love You, Baby." It's a profile of Emeril Lagasse, the biggest celebrity chef of all time, penned by none other than Ruhlman.)

Last spring, Ruhlman also appeared on the small screen as host and judge on the PBS reality show Cooking Under Fire, along with celebrity chefs Ming Tsai (of Boston's Blue Ginger) and Todd English, whose empire includes nine restaurant concepts in cities ranging from New York to Tokyo. The show pitted a crew of unknown chefs and wannabes against one another, Survivor-style, with Ruhlman and his fellow judges deciding when, and on whom, the axe fell.

"The chef fraternity is a creative, close-knit community," says executive producer John Rieber. "And with his background and perspective, Michael is sort of looked on as 'the professor,' someone who can highlight the elements of [culinary] success and failure, in an almost scholarly fashion. He is held in such high regard, he was a natural, and he has an empathy that spoke both to the aspiring chefs and to the audience in a way that neither Ming nor Todd could do."

Up next for Ruhlman is the May release of his 11th book, The Reach of a Chef, a look at the extraordinary commercial impact that celebrity chefs like Keller and Emeril have had on attitudes toward food and dining. At the same time, his first book on cooking may find new life in Hollywood: Ruhlman sold a screenplay he adapted from The Making of a Chef, and writer-director-producer Richard LaGravenese (The Horse Whisperer, The Fisher King) has expressed interest in directing it.

"I don't get too emotionally invested in the screenplay," Ruhlman shrugs. Nonetheless, ask him whom he would choose to portray himself in the movie, and he fires back a ready response: "I'd actually enjoy Danny DeVito," he says with an impossibly straight face. "He's a great actor, and he's a hell of a lot funnier than I am."

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As Ruhlman's reputation flourishes, he remains in high regard among Cleveland's top culinarians too. "He's pretty amazing," says fellow CIA grad Michael Symon, chef-owner of Lolita and the soon-to-reopen Lola Bistro, widely considered among Cleveland's best restaurants. "If I have food questions, he's the guy I turn to. He's so knowledgeable and well traveled -- more than I will ever be -- and he's such a perfectionist."

Symon and Ruhlman met in the mid-1990s, when the author was preparing to ship out to the Culinary Institute and Symon was shaking up Cleveland dining at the Caxton Café. "He spent several months with me in the kitchen, doing preliminary research," Symon recalls. "He wanted to talk about the school and get his feet wet before he went to New York." They remained friends, and later, as Ruhlman prepared to write The Soul of a Chef, he chose Symon, along with Keller and Michigan chef-restaurateur Brian Polcyn, as the focuses of his story.

Amid this entrancing tale of what goes on in the mind of a professional chef, there are also very recognizable bits of Cleveland. Want to know how Symon and his wife and partner, Liz, scraped together Lola's start-up funds? It's in there. Or how Cleveland food-service expert Stephen Michaelides helped forge Lola's national reputation? That's there too -- along with other telling tidbits that may have you jumping up and shouting, "Hey! I know that guy!"

Today, while Ruhlman will gladly sing the praises of local chefs like Symon, Parker Bosley (of Parker's New American Bistro), and Doug Katz (Fire), he has little good to say about the overall caliber of the Cleveland scene. "Like the economy, we're about 10 years behind," he says, contending that Cleveland lacks a sufficient number of diners sophisticated enough to encourage chefs to experiment.