Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Garlic and Sapphires
The Secret Life of a Food Critic in Disguise
by Ruth Reichl
review by N. Sosulski
I admit to being a foodie, one who loves to read cookbooks for fun, who has more cookbooks on my shelf than I will ever cook my way through. Therein lay the motivation the first time I picked up a book written by Ruth Reichl, currently the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. Why I keep doing so is less about the prandial wonders she describes (and they are phenomenal) but because of her infectious style that draws the reader into her experience, be it travel in Morocco, or in the case of Garlic and Sapphires, her tenure for most of the 1990s as chief food critic for The New York Times--one of the most outrageously powerful positions in gastronomy. Because of the influence this person wields, in order that the critic might not accidentally dine at their established unremarked and unpampered, New York restaurant staff are routinely given dossiers about the critic that would rival those produced by the CIA: descriptions, photos, likely dining companions, previous reviews and at at least one place a $500 reward for being the first person to spot the critic in the restaurant. When the critic is “made”, phenomenal service unlike that of all other diners results: “the King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready.”
Reichl devised a defense in which she assumed six different disguises for her restaurant trips, each with a detailed identity and backstory and each gaining a different response from waitstaff and other diners. Her tales of these undercover missions to 21, Daniel, Tavern on the Green make great reading. The reader has a sense of complicity in putting one over on these temples to Bacchus—even if the fanciest place he or she ever eats is TGI Fridays. Reichl is a method actress who lives these alter egos, and her musings on how it feels to be inside each character are insightful. The format--expedition, critic’s review, recipe--is highly effective. A fun book.
by Ruth Reichl
review by N. Sosulski
I admit to being a foodie, one who loves to read cookbooks for fun, who has more cookbooks on my shelf than I will ever cook my way through. Therein lay the motivation the first time I picked up a book written by Ruth Reichl, currently the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. Why I keep doing so is less about the prandial wonders she describes (and they are phenomenal) but because of her infectious style that draws the reader into her experience, be it travel in Morocco, or in the case of Garlic and Sapphires, her tenure for most of the 1990s as chief food critic for The New York Times--one of the most outrageously powerful positions in gastronomy. Because of the influence this person wields, in order that the critic might not accidentally dine at their established unremarked and unpampered, New York restaurant staff are routinely given dossiers about the critic that would rival those produced by the CIA: descriptions, photos, likely dining companions, previous reviews and at at least one place a $500 reward for being the first person to spot the critic in the restaurant. When the critic is “made”, phenomenal service unlike that of all other diners results: “the King of Spain is waiting in the bar, but your table is ready.”
Reichl devised a defense in which she assumed six different disguises for her restaurant trips, each with a detailed identity and backstory and each gaining a different response from waitstaff and other diners. Her tales of these undercover missions to 21, Daniel, Tavern on the Green make great reading. The reader has a sense of complicity in putting one over on these temples to Bacchus—even if the fanciest place he or she ever eats is TGI Fridays. Reichl is a method actress who lives these alter egos, and her musings on how it feels to be inside each character are insightful. The format--expedition, critic’s review, recipe--is highly effective. A fun book.
