Author(s): Jess Ho

General Biography / Memoir

Growing up Cantonese in the racist outer suburbs was hard enough for Jess Ho, but add in a dysfunctional family who only ever made peace over food (and then only until the bill arrived), and it was clear that a normal life was never on the menu. She emerged from her childhood with two important traits: a major psychological complex, and a kick-arse palate. Both would help her fit right into the messy world of Melbourne s food scene. In hospitality Jess found her new family, a bunch of outsiders who shared her lust for life and appetite for destruction. As the Australian food scene exploded, fuelled by a thirst for the sort of exotic foods she d grown up on, Jess thrived, helping to create iconic venues and becoming one of the most influential voices in Australia s bar and restaurant scene. But over time she realised that the industry she loved had its own dysfunctions: greed, ego, sexual harassment, exploitation and a never-ending festishisation of Asian food culture. And Jess wasn t one to hold her tongue. Fierce, funny and razor-sharp, Raised by Wolves is a potent coming of age story from a savage new voice.

August 2022