Patrick O’Connell to bare his ‘demons’ in a memoir on building The Inn at Little Washington

NEW YORK (AP) — Award-winning chef Patrick O’Connell has a book scheduled for September about how he converted an old garage into an international destination for food lovers.

O’Connell’s “Main, Middle & Gay” is a memoir by the founder of the Michelin-starred restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington. The title is a reference to streets where the restaurant and hotel is located in Washington, Virginia.

“This book was eight decades in the making. (I had to wait till most of the characters were dead). Unleashing my demons was freeing,” the 80-year-old O’Connell said in a statement released Tuesday by Celadon Books, which will publish his memoir Sept. 15.

“Finally, the jagged pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of my life have been assembled into a haunting portrayal worthy of a southern, gothic novel — proving that fiction can rarely compete with reality.”

O’Connell, a Washington, D.C. native, opened the restaurant in 1978. He has received numerous honors, including a lifetime achievement award from the James Beard Foundation and a National Humanities Medal, for raising “the culinary arts to new heights of excellence by embracing regional flavors and championing local farmers.”