Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch
Feb. 4th, 2008 07:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyMy girlfriend ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trouble4hire recommended this book. The subtitle is "Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter." It is the memoir of a woman working as a waiter at a four-star restaurant in New York City. I was interested in the book because I like to eat out, and I enjoy good food. Now, I've only eaten at a restaurant as fancy as the one she describes about once in my life - that was Daniel, which happens to also be in New York City. (Funny story, actually - I was working for a company that had an important vendor in NYC. The vendor had promised to take me and my partner out to dinner if we were ever in the area, and had had this restaurant misrepresented to her as a place where "the food is good but you don't have to dress up." Whoops. Anyway, it was the fanciest meal I've ever had, and the food was incredible, but I didn't like the service. It was a little bit snobby for my tastes. The waitstaff made us feel as though we were underdressed - which we were - but it wasn't our fault. Anyway, the vendor apparently had problems later getting this expense approved, which perhaps is not surprising, given the cost.) So for me, as I imagine for most readers, this was not just a side of the restaurant business I'd never seen, but also a level of the restaurant business that I've mostly only read about. What I liked about the book most was the description of her training, the food at the restaurant, and how she works with her team. What I liked the least was the descriptions of the various bad-news men she gets involved with over the course of the book. Unfortunately, over the course of the narrative, they start to occupy more and more of the writing, until the last third of the book, which is mostly just about her relationship with a guy (who first, is cheating WITH her and then is cheating ON her - bad news, Phoebe, bad news!). The restaurant tips are also funny and appropos.
I still recommend the book and would give it three stars. It was hard to put down! This would make a great companion piece to Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl.
trouble4hire recommended this book. The subtitle is "Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter." It is the memoir of a woman working as a waiter at a four-star restaurant in New York City. I was interested in the book because I like to eat out, and I enjoy good food. Now, I've only eaten at a restaurant as fancy as the one she describes about once in my life - that was Daniel, which happens to also be in New York City. (Funny story, actually - I was working for a company that had an important vendor in NYC. The vendor had promised to take me and my partner out to dinner if we were ever in the area, and had had this restaurant misrepresented to her as a place where "the food is good but you don't have to dress up." Whoops. Anyway, it was the fanciest meal I've ever had, and the food was incredible, but I didn't like the service. It was a little bit snobby for my tastes. The waitstaff made us feel as though we were underdressed - which we were - but it wasn't our fault. Anyway, the vendor apparently had problems later getting this expense approved, which perhaps is not surprising, given the cost.) So for me, as I imagine for most readers, this was not just a side of the restaurant business I'd never seen, but also a level of the restaurant business that I've mostly only read about. What I liked about the book most was the description of her training, the food at the restaurant, and how she works with her team. What I liked the least was the descriptions of the various bad-news men she gets involved with over the course of the book. Unfortunately, over the course of the narrative, they start to occupy more and more of the writing, until the last third of the book, which is mostly just about her relationship with a guy (who first, is cheating WITH her and then is cheating ON her - bad news, Phoebe, bad news!). The restaurant tips are also funny and appropos.I still recommend the book and would give it three stars. It was hard to put down! This would make a great companion piece to Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl.