Phoebe DamroschReviews

I am a sucker for books like this, that offer a peek behind the curtain. I've read a few of them, and this one is pretty good. The writer offers fairly frank details about her life and her own failings, but also manages to seem like a bit of a food snob, knowing and enjoying luxury items like truffles and bone marrow, taking her own maple syrup to the diner (and not ordering pancakes unless she has her own syrup to eat on them). She aspires to be a writer, but doesn't seem to have anything to write about except her career as a waiter in a fancy restaurant. She has an affair with a co-worker which seems on the verge of epic failure pretty much the whole time, until all of a sudden it's the perfect relationship. All of these things would seem to be negatives, and you're thinking, "why did she give this book 4 stars, when she apparently didn't like it?" Well, it satisfied my voyeuristic tendencies, since I've never worked in a restaurant, never mind an upscale one like Per Se, the one she writes about, and in fact I've never even eaten in a restaurant like that -- I just don't have the interest in sitting down for that long, eating bite after bite, and slapping down four figures at the end of the meal. I don't aspire to that kind of luxury, but I'm fascinated by it. I put this one with good travel memoirs of places I never really want to go, but enjoy knowing about.

I'm going To be honest. The author is a very good writer and the topic is generally interesting if you love food and restaurants. She is clearly a fan of Keller and that is okay since she worked for him and should know. On the down side, she includes a few tales of diners that, in my humble opinion, should have been omitted by a clear-headed, smart editor. One story was beyond gross and, well, so was the other one! I can see why some people felt she was self-absorbed - there's a lot about her love, Andre. I forgive her that. It was an easy, enjoyable read in general and I did get a clearer picture of life at PerSe.

Really liked this book, although I've never read a "waitress memoir" before. Her descriptions of some of the high-end food is so far away from anything I do or will ever eat that it really doesn't mean much to me, but what would be the point of her memoir without it? I enjoyed the serious tips for diners that she put at the back of most of the chapters...she could be a little preachy without changing the overall light and humorous feel to the book. I'll definitely see if there are similar books for my TO-READ shelf.

Four-star secrets of an eavesdropping waiter would be pretty interesting. Banal observations by a young woman figuring out what she wants to do with her life are not very interesting -- not unless she's got literary skills that Ms. Damrosch does not possess. Very, very few secrets are spilled, and little of consequence is offered in their place.

Phoebe Damrosch was a waiter and then a captain at the Per Se restaurant in New York City for several years. Having been hired before the restaurant was built she gives great background on exactly what it takes to open, staff and run such an exclusive eatery. To me it is staggering the amount of silverware, stemware, bowls, plates, not to mention wines that are part of a 4-star restaurants meal. What I learned from this book is that I will never be the type of person who will frequent a place like Per Se. The prices alone would keep me away (seriously? items that cost hundreds of dollars?) but the food itself does not tempt me in the slightest. I can't imagine sitting down to a nice plate of bone marrow on toast points, or thyme ice cream with salt and hot Provencal olive oil. Huh? Damrosch has a great sense of humor and a great style of writing so I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Very impressively written book (228 pp.) on working in the New York 4-star restaurant Per Se. The owner also owns The French Laundry in Napa Valley, California. I will never go to either as the meals range into the hundreds and thousands. The book topic was overly detailed even for me who has worked in food service (the author was a back server before becoming a lead server). This book might interest some people. But most working restaurant people wouldn't read a book like this because it's too familiar and therefore intellectually redundant to their own experience. Lots of memories from her own personal life which was a good way to break the monotony of describing the work environment. I was impressed by her ability to be interesting but her characters left a lot to be desired. Pretty bland people who might say something interesting as not but her overly dramatic expectation that everyone would be witty became tedious for me. If everyone's first book was this good, I'd be an even happier reader. The author has a MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

This book was an interesting look into the service staff at a real four star restaurant. I was hoping that there would be more on the topic of eavesdropping on the eccentric clientele. A good enough easy read about the food industry.

Title better than the book. Not enough evesdropping.

“This is a story about commitment: to food, service, love perfection, and to being the bacon” - Phoebe Damrosch.

This book was a quick fun read. A nice light read after working in food service/retail and moving. I especially loved the tips for guests that come to the restaurant at the end of each chapter:

“A TIP: If you want to change the majority of the components in a dish, you might consider choosing something else” (182).

Anyone who has every worked as a cook or server/waiter will relate to the many instances detailed in Service Included.

“A TIP: There’s no need to say that you are allergic when you don’t like something. Not only are allergies very serious, but you have right to your personal taste” (72).

High-class restaurant waiter/captain's memoir is very readable but undecided whether to be about the food or about the love affairs. The parts about the food are pretty good, but it's not all that well-written, in my opinion. More tedious than riveting.

Really enjoyed the tips, food descriptions, and the behind-the-scenes peek into all the effort involved in making a four-star restaurant's service perfection for customers & critics. It fizzled out a little bit after the brief Puerto Rican vacation though. Left me feeling like I was served a really nice dinner, but only got one bite of pie for dessert. Still a very enjoyable read.

Its a strange concept, to go to a restaurant and be told that the menu prices cover the cost of the seat, the clean napery, the cover and the food, but you must pay up to 20% more for the food to be served and the dirty plates removed.

This rests on the fake construct that if you really enjoyed your meal it was down to the wait staff and you should voluntarily pay for that. Fake because if they do the job they are employed for quietly and efficiently you will enjoy the meal, they don't really add to it, but they sure can ruin it without hardly trying at all.

So what are we expected to pay for then? Outside of their job description what else is it they contribute? Friendliness, and sometimes in an effort to get a bigger tip, an annoying over-helpfulness - filling your water glass when you've just taken a sip, hovering at your elbow so your private conversation is inhibited. But the friendliness is as fake as the concept of the serving staff contributed to you enjoying your meal.

You want to see friendly? Pay a 20% tip (and if your credit card slip comes with service charge added, you will note there is a blank space for you to add an extra contribution as well, fill it in) and next time you go, your name will be remembered and you will be treated as an honoured guest. Leave less than 10% and you risk having your wait staff turn ugly and tell you what they think of you in sarcastic terms. Leave nothing and feel the blast....

This book, exposes the fakery of their affection for customers, their greed, and often bad relations among the other staff based on whose in the money position. Its thoroughly enjoyable.

I was taught, out of my awkward not-very-tip-friendly UK way to serve like an American by a very cheerful girl who enumerated the many ways to milk a customer of a good tip. It was useful information, but when I became the restaurant manager, I found it wasn't particularly correct. A pretty girl, looking sexy, gets better tips than the most competent and friendly male waiters. Boobs, hair and a trout pout wins every time.

Much later, I was a bar owner and decided to try something different. I paid incremently increasing commission on sales and required my bar staff , male and female, to be genuinely friendly to customers (easy on a small island), whether or not someone tipped. Inside and outside the bar. And guess what, both sales and tips soared. I had people on a waiting list for jobs, people-sharing jobs and the best of those bar staff, ten years on, are still my friends, my closest friends.

I'd still be in the bar business, making good money, rather than the bookselling one which doesn't pay, but I lost the bar to drugs. The landlord of the premises was involved in a rather big international operation. But that's another story. Involved a lot more money than tips as well.

2 May 2011

Summary: Phoebe Damrosch worked as a waiter to support herself, until she realized that she wasn't there until she could find something better, she was there because she loved the food and the restaurant life. Before long, she was working as a waiter in Thomas Keller's new four-star NYC restaurant, Per Se. Damrosch provides readers with a look behind the scenes of fine dining, how restaurants prepare for opening, and for the visit of important critics, and provides tips for diners. She also talks about her love affair with good food, her love affair with the restaurant, and her love affair with a sommelier from her restaurant.

Review: Kitchen Confidential was the book that convinced me that I didn't hate memoirs, so I picked up this book looking for more of the same: a behind-the-scenes look at what's really going on when I dine out, only from a front-of-the-house perspective instead of from a chef's perspective. And, I'm pleased to say, that's mostly what I got! Damrosch's writing is easily accessible, and while she doesn't quite have Bourdain's level of snark, the book is still quite funny, and generally fun to read.

The parts that I thought were most successful were - no surprises here - the parts in which Damrosch is dishing about what really goes on in restaurants that diners either don't see, or don't recognize. Reading about the involved preparation that went into opening Per Se, the whole section on preparing for and serving a visiting restaurant critic, the occasional bits about what's really going on during waiters' minds during service, and what's going on before the diners get there and after they go home, all of these were the parts of the book that I found the most interesting. Of course, the foodie in me also loved the description of the Per Se menu, and the discussion of the thought that went into its ingredients and its dishes. Given that even the most modest Per Se meal is probably beyond my price range at the moment, I definitely enjoyed Damrosch's ability in bringing the dining experience there to life (although I must admit it was enjoyment mixed with a twinge or two of jealousy). I was less interested in the sections of the book involving Damrosch's personal life. They weren't bad, or poorly written, or even particularly intrusive or anything; they just weren't why I was there. But the book as a whole is light and enjoyable and quick-moving enough that by the time I would start thinking "yeah, yeah, get back to the restaurant," she would. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Fans of Kitchen Confidential and similar books are the most obvious recommendation, but I think anyone who likes to read about food and/or enjoys day-in-the-life style memoirs should have a good time with this one.

I will admit to sometimes judging books by their covers. I picked up this book because it looked interesting, without reading anything about it. I was delighted to find out that this woman worked at Per Se, Thomas Keller's New York restaurant. (My dream vacation involves his restaurant French Laundry.) A great look at what goes into making a four star restaurant. Impossible to put down!

I love food writing, so I was excited about this book. There is some interesting material about working at Per Se, and the care and attention that goes into the food there. However, I didn't care for all the anecdotes about the author's personal life - it felt like they should have been part of a different memoir. Worth reading if you're very interested in the world of upscale dining.

initially slow going, and so alien to me (restaurant work at a place where people can spend thousands on a single dinner)...but I eventually got really engrossed

Service Included is Phoebe Damrosch’s first book, a memoir about her time working at the swanky New York restaurant Per Se. It’s a decent book that gives the reader a lot of insight into the world of fancy restaurants and all of the backstage bustle, which is pretty interesting. I really liked hearing about all of the preparation needed for each course and each table, and how much work actually goes into something like this. (Knowing that there’s a huge team at work to anticipate your needs makes the price of the meal seem slightly more reasonable.)

There’s also some personal stuff in there and, to be honest, I could have lived without the personal journey. Some of it is fun but it’s hard to support someone who knowingly begins a relationship with a coworker who already has a girlfriend, let alone one with a girlfriend who works at the self same restaurant. I commend the author for not shying away from this fact but it made it hard to like her at times.

Service Included was a book I really wanted to read and I’m glad that I did. Phoebe Damrosch has a really accessible writing style that makes the book fly by. I’d be interested to see what she comes up with next.

Also published at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com

She needs an editor; the bits about her personal life and the relationship with wine guy Andre were distracting and really, not that interesting. I don't care why you became a waiter honey, I want to know more about how Per Se works, and the cooking, and the food, and everything else.

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.

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.