Warning: May contain material offensive to vegans, pharmaceutical lobbyists, and those on a low-sodium diet. Animals were harmed during the writing of this book. While Phoebe Damrosch was waiting for life to happen, she supported herself by working as a waitress. Before long she was the only female captain at the four-star New York City restaurant Per Se during its first year. Service Included is the story of her obsession with food, her love affair with a sommelier, and her amusing, eye-opening, and sometimes shocking experiences in the fascinating, frenetic, highly competitive world of fine dining. Sitting down at a restaurant table will never be the same.

#Precision becomes art (2008-11-10) Despite the sex drugs and rock & roll touched on this is on balance a dining procedural. It is very very good if you want an insiders look at what makes for great dining experiences. It also conveys a lot about what it is to be part of the service staff in a restaurant. It also is great for those of us who love New York city. My sister, who has worked all her life in that enviroment, read it in one sitting and found it quite the best book on the topic ever.

#Not really what the title suggests (2008-09-30) Billed as a front of the house kitchen confidential but sadly it was not at all. Mildy interesting but without any of the juice that was promised. Not recommended by me.

#not what I expected (2008-09-09) ok i got this book becauce of the place the author worked and the chef she worked for. What I got was a book more about here personal love life which in the brief time she worked there was sev diff coworkers including a secret relationship with a managerial level employee. SO the amount of the book devoted to the chef and the restaurant itself was less than I desired. Her employer Per Se also is one of the first places in the States to charge a service charge on all purchases which the author s tale ends just before its implemented which is also so...

#Gave up on it (2008-08-05) I couldn t even make it as far as the romantic part. I suspect the problem lay with the nature of her restaurant, rich people overpaying to be seen doesn t do it for me.

#More inside a love life than inside a restaurant (2008-07-11) I really wanted to like this book--and this author. But what started out promisingly ultimately fell flat into a heap of who cares about your personal relationship with the sommelier? . The insight gleaned didn t feel revealing (as the book was so hyped to do) and I ended up actually disliking the author by the end, who, in turns, came across as smug, condescending and even small. I wanted this to be a book I was glad to have in hardcover. Instead I m just left regretting I dropped the cash and didn t read the Amaz...

Kingsley Amis was one of the great masters of comic prose, and no subject was dearer to him than the art and practice of imbibing. This new volume brings together the best of his three out-of-print works on the subject: Kingsley Amis in Drink, Everyday Drinking and How s Your Glass? In one handsome package, the book covers a full shelf of the master s riotous and erudite thoughts on the drinking arts: Along with a series of well-tested recipes (including a cocktail called the Lucky Jim) are Amis s musings on The Hangover, The Boozing Man s Diet, The Mean Sod s Guide, and (presumably as a matter of speculation) How Not to Get Drunk - all leavened with fun quizzes on the making and drinking of alcohol all over the world. Mixing practical know-how and hilarious opinionation, this is a delightful cocktail of wry humour and distilled knowledge, served by one of our great gimlet wits.

#The Perfect Companion (2008-08-29) A collection of essays that entertain, enlighten, and enhance the enjoyment of imbibing. There are some real hits here, especially Amis advice on how not to get drunk. The reflections about wine are not at first very clear to American readers, since our appellations are different from those in Amis native Britain, but once you get into the book, it becomes clearer. An included glossary, placed at the front, proves helpful here. The quiz section is tiresome, and kind of a waste of space, but if you take time to mine the answers, you can learn a l...

#Drinking as an Englishman Should (2008-08-15) I was delighted with Amis s book on drink,the effects of drink and the types of drink,his underdstudied wit combined with practical alchohol knowledge made for an enjoyable and useful read. Would highly recommend.

#Back in print at last! (2008-08-06) It s great to see Amis s finest work, On Drink , back in print at last. I had a second-hand copy but it was worth buying this to get the other two books included in the volume. The volume is attractively printed and bound and unabridged, and is a great gift too. My only (minor) complaint is that the Amis s own texts (as opposed to the additional front matter) have been edited according to American punctuation conventions. This work is literary enough that the author s details should have been unaltered.

#A Plethra of Information (2008-07-20) This everything you wanted to know about style book on booze is a wonderful addition to anyone s bookcase. Everyday Drinking contains all of the information on alcohol that you could ever desire to know. . . and delivered through the side splitting rapier s wit of Kingsley Amis. A real treat!

#Cheerio to All the Boozemen in the World! (2008-07-19) First, I have never laughed so hard. This book is so funny. Amis has a turn-of-phrase that is incredible. It is also filled with arcana and nuance on the world of booze. I may even try some of his recipes. I truly enjoy the different read and books not boring. This is definitely in that category. You don t have to be a drunk to enjoy this book on drink and all the social niceties associated with it. Highly recommended!

Winner of the Julia Child Book Award A James Beard Book Award FinalistWhen Jeffrey Steingarten was appointed food critic for Vogue, he systematically set out to overcome his distaste for such things as kimchi, lard, Greek cuisine, and blue food. He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is fairly sure that God meant the color blue mainly for food that has gone bad. In this impassioned, mouth-watering, and outrageously funny book, Steingarten devotes the same Zen-like discipline and gluttonous curiosity to practically everything that anyone anywhere has ever called dinner. Follow Steingarten as he jets off to sample choucroute in Alsace, hand-massaged beef in Japan, and the mother of all ice creams in Sicily. Sweat with him as he tries to re-create the perfect sourdough, bottle his own mineral water, and drop excess poundage at a luxury spa. Join him as he mounts a heroic--and hilarious--defense of salt, sugar, and fat (though he has some nice things to say about Olestra). Stuffed ...

#He s been there and eaten that (2008-09-18) A wonderful book by the senior judge of Iron Chef America. Steingarten as food editor for Vogue has had the opportunity to explore many cuisines and has praises and problems for all of them. Well written the book is often humerous and always informative. There is the almost ever present happy attitude in the book that seems to say they pay me for doing and generally enjoying all of this, life is sweet. There is also the logical training he has had as a lawyer that gives the book a unique perspective missing in most food books. I...

#Deliciously fabulous! (2008-03-26) Mr. Steingarten should be awarded for writing this book. I searched in vain for an email address so I could tell him directly how much I enjoyed his book. Leaving a short review here is my own way of saying THANK YOU. I could not have picked up a better companion for my two-month stay in Hanoi, where I went to study Vietnamese cuisine. Hours of very well written stories and good laughs. Anabela

#Better Than a Midnight Snack (2008-03-06) This book of short articles is just the thing for bedside reading. Charming,witty, and lots of fun in the world of food. It s a pick-up put-down book to settle you down for a great nights sleep.

#Funny, maybe - nutritionally responsible not! (2008-03-02) This may be a mildy entertaining and informative book on food around the world, but to make such wide claims as salad consumption leading to death is absurd. Steingarten obviously loves food and food high in fat, calories and cholesterol so this book will certainly make you, and himself, feel better about eating these foods, that is until you keel over from a heart attack. His advice on nutrition is out-dated, selectively researched and all together wrong in many areas. Please use caution when taking health advice from s...

#I can t get enough! (2008-01-16) Though I ve followed Jeffrey Steingarten s column in Vogue magazine ever since I first came across it, I hadn t realized that he d published two books, both compilations of his essays in Vogue. I must say, I m addicted. Having read both The Man Who Ate Everything, and It Must Have Been Something I ate, I am reduced to googling to find more Steingarten gems. Alas, the closest thing was his Q&A on egullet. comPerhaps the fact that I m a food junkie (despite bordering on veganism) colors this review, I still appreciate the witty writing and almost e...

Reading manga sure can make a person hungry! Food appears frequently in Japanese comics, but what exactly is it that the characters are eating? Introducing The Manga Cookbook, an illustrated step-by-step guide to preparing simple Japanese dishes using ingredients found in every Western kitchen. Learn to identify and make the same things you see in all your favorite manga: authentic onigiri (rice balls), yakitori (skewered chicken), oshinko (pickled vegetables), udon (Japanese noodles), okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pizza) and many others! Includes sections on how to assemble bento boxed lunches and properly use chopsticks. Features original manga illustrations by Chihiro Hattori. Soon, you too can enjoy a meal fit for a manga character!

#Simple and easy but not always correct (2008-10-16) For the really simple things, obviously you can t go wrong and though I have not used this book extensively, it seems some of the recipes are off. For example the 3 colored dango gave me measurements that were pretty different than other recipes I found online. Also on how to cook the rice I was told that recipe was off too, therefore the results I got were far less than desired. I ve lost faith in this book and though it was fun at first, I most likely will not use it again. There are some great sites online of bloggers with grea...

#We love it! (2008-08-23) Bought this book to help me learn to make Bento Boxes and my son enjoyed the book so much he got involved too! It is definitely written with kids in mind but easy enough for an adult to learn the basics of bento items to make.

#Great for Kids, but too simple for Adults (2008-08-21) If you re looking for a basic introduction to Japanese food, this works. If you re looking for something that gives you some Japanese recipes that don t require a lot of obscure or strange ingredients, this also works. In general, this makes a great kid s cookbook, but not much more. The recipes are all very simple, and while the art is cute, it just doesn t have enough content to be considered a true cookbook in my opinion.

#nice and easy intro to Japanese cooking (2008-08-13) this book is awesome if you re interested in cooking Japanese cuisine. And if you re a beginner then all the better! Each recipe in this book is simply explained with pictures and words to make the cooking experience as easy as pie. I would defiantly recommend this cooking book to anyone interested in learning some basic Japanese recipes.

#Fantasic (2008-08-09) This book is fantastic, wonderfully written, animated, and the meals are fantastic to boot! Cute, fun, and delicious. Now, to find a bento box to bring with me into the office, Pokemon, or Digimon?

It s more than just the alcohol that gives these shot recipes that extra kick! With names that range from the merely suggestive to the downright risqué, these mini pages offer ways to take a tiny taste of good-natured fun. More than 50 recipes are accompanied by images of collectible shot glasses and other illustrations.

#Hit of the party! (2007-05-12) These have been a lot of fun to try out. while the book is small (portable ,) this has been worth it. my friends and I have had tons of fun with this.

#Size (2007-04-26) I was under the impression that the book was bigger. I received the book, and was suprised to see that it was so small. I guess I didn t read the specs. This book would be good to throw in your pocket or purse to go to a party.