Ruth Reichl, in this book as food critic for The New York Times, takes her readers along on her job assignments. To keep people from recognizing her, she changes appearance with the use of make-up, various wigs, and clothing to match each new persona. Oddly enough, she also takes on a new personality with every costume change.

Throughout the book, Reichl visits various restaurants and has vastly different experiences in each. After telling about them in excruciating detail, she adds a matching review for each restaurant. Not all of them were favorable.

I found this book pleasurable reading for a while. Toward the end, however, I was becoming tired of Reichl’s whirlwind restaurant experiences. I most likely felt this way because some of the restaurants that she visited were ones at which I could neither afford to dine nor would I want to. I don’t count duck web, foie gras, steamed skate, fried quail eggs, or squid ink among those foods I’d be eager to try. I’m more of a Deborah Madison-type foodie. Nevertheless, I found this book for the most part to be a light, fun reading experience.

I have to say that the best part of this book by far was the New York Cheesecake recipe on page 20. The author uses recipes in her book instead of pictures. I’m grateful for that as I made two of Reichl’s cheesecakes (both of which were entirely eaten) before I even finished reading the book. ( )

This book picks up about five years after Reichl’s last book, Comfort Me with Apples, left off. I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought a book basically about eating would appeal to me, but I read Comfort Me with Apples with my book discussion group and enjoyed it, so I thought I would give this one a try, too. Garlic and Sapphires is Reichl’s chronicle of her tenure as the restaurant critic of The New York Times. Apparently this is a huge deal, and even ordinary people on the street care deeply about Reichl’s opinions on food and restaurants. (Personally, I live not that far away from New York City and have never once read a restaurant review in the New York Times, but I guess I’m just not that type of person). As you can imagine, restaurateurs are even more concerned about Reichl’s reviews, and she soon realizes that it is next to impossible for her to be anonymous while dining out. This means that she gets the royal treatment every time she goes out, which does not mesh with Reichl’s aim to be the critic “of the people.” So, Reichl decides to don a variety of costumes to see how the ordinary person would be treated in four-star restaurants. She completely embodies each of the personalities she creates, which, while interesting to read about, is also a bit creepy in my opinion. Reichl also talks about a variety of other things going on in her life besides eating out, although it seems to me that her personal life is less a topic here than in Comfort Me with Apples. Nevertheless, there is enough that this is not solely a book about food. Reichl often turns a pretty phrase, writing in a way that is very evocative. There were often times I wished I could sample the meal she was describing. This a delightful quick read, although I personally enjoyed Comfort Me with Apples more. ( )

Delightful read! It’s obvious she loves writing almost as much as she loves food. We went, hand in hand, with her on her adventure and loved every minute of it. ( )

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl, makes you stop and wonder if the "best" restaurants truly have earned their titles by treating all of their customers as four stars restaurant should, or whether, instead, the four star treatment is reserved for "special" patrons. A delight to read and including the recipes will be entertaining to try in my own kitchen. ( )

This book is a witty, funny and informative romp behind the scenes at the NY Times - well sort of. The author is a former food critic at the NY Times and the books starts off with her journey to NYC to search for an apartment and the eye-opening conversation she has with a seat mate. She quickly realizes that being the food critic at the NY Times may be more complicated and fraught with drama than she realized.

In order to ensure she is able to provide unbiased reviews of restaurants, Reichl creates false personas that allow her to eat at some of NY finest establishments undetected; without the cachet of the NY Times behind her. The result is eye-opening and shows that in some NYC restaurants at the time, who were are directly impacted your dining experience.

I was rooting for her when she gave negative reviews to such 4 star establishments as Le Cirque because of their less than stellar service and I was thrilled when she included such below the radar establishments at Korean restaurants in Little Korea. As one fan wrote, Reichl was a reviewer for the rest of us. She pulled back the curtain and revealed the elitism and favoritism at some of NY's "finest" restaurants. I've known for years that Tavern on the Green's food is just not worth the price. It was nice to have the confirmed by Reichl's experience.

We follow Reichl through her various personas laughing and cringing at some of them. She also shares some of the behind the scenes challenges that arose such as the rivalry and enmity of her predecessor and his fans and the illness of a co-worker.

What I found helpful too was that how you are treated was often directly impacted by how you acted. If you walked in expecting and demanding great treatment, you got it. If you walked in timidly as though you didn't belong, that is often how the staff treated you. This book is a short, quick read but I enjoyed it and found myself wanting to read more of Reichl's works. ( )