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Loading... Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiterby Phoebe Damrosch
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Reviews here and elsewhere have been mixed, but I thought this was one of the better tales of the food industry that I've read. It discussed service in a high-end restaurant more, say, than Waiter Rant, and was far less self-absorbed than books like The Saucier's Apprentice. The beginning is stronger than the end, and it's not in the sexy "tell-all" category. Still, it's better than many, and worth a read. (  ) OliviainNJ | Dec 14, 2009 |  Reviewed by Mr. Janda (Social Studies) Damrosch gets a job as a server at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in Manhattan, one of the world’s best regarded and expensive restaurants. She tells the story of needing to serve with absolute perfection, including getting every utensil in the same spot down to the millimeter and wine glasses turned so the etched label faces each guest. Servers have to know how each dish is made and must learn the idiosyncracies of regulars. In the process, if she’s good, she stands to make huge tips off meals costing well over $1000. She forms relationships with guests, recognizes food critics, and falls in love. (  ) HHS-Staff | Oct 20, 2009 | I quite enjoyed this book. The author's voice was clear without getting too bogged into the details. It hit on the highlights of the Per Se opening, as well as the other challenges faced in her job. ( ) skinglist | Feb 10, 2009 | The writing style can be a little precious, but for the untutored it's an enjoyably idiosyncratic view of operations at an elite restaurant -- and perhaps a nicely dishy view (pun intended) for those already in the know. Would make a good double feature with "Garlic and Sapphires." ( ) kylenapoli | Jan 26, 2009 | HOtel TX910.5.D36 A3 2007  coolmama | Jan 12, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Kitchen Confidential meets Sex and the City in this delicious, behind-the-scenes memoir from the first female captain at one of New York City's most prestigious restaurants
While Phoebe Damrosch was figuring out what to do with her life, she supported herself by working as a waiter. Before long she was a captain at the New York City four-star restaurant Per Se, the culinary creation of master chef Thomas Keller.
Service Included is the story of her experiences there: her obsession with food, her love affair with a sommelier, and her observations of the highly competitive and frenetic world of fine dining.
She also provides the following dining tips:
Please do not ask your waiter what else he or she does.
Please do not steal your waiter's pen.
Please do not say you're allergic when you don't like something.
Please do not send something back after eating most of it.
Please do not make faces or gagging noises when hearing the specials—someone else at the table might like to order one of them.
After reading this book, diners will never sit down at a restaurant table the same way again.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400)
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