Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Title: Garlic and Sapphires

Author:  Ruth Reichl

Genre: Non-Fiction

I have always thought that one of the best jobs in the world must be that of a food critic.  What could possibly be better than eating in the nation’s crème de la crème of restaurants, where the choicest chef’s parade their most elegant cuisine in front of you, all while having the tab picked up by your boss?  It’s the dinner scene straight out of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. 

But what if the preparers of the fabulous, choreographed and sumptuous feast didn’t know that you were their salvation?   What if you were just a provincial local, who stumbled into the castle, hoping to sample some of its riches? Would they still go the whole nine yards to impress you, or simply toss you a PB&J and sit you in the corner?

This is the central question that Ruth Reichl decides to tackle in her deliciously constructed tome.   Arriving in New York City at the height of the 1990’s restaurant boom as the much-heralded food critic for the New York Times, Ruth is faced with a very real concern: If they (the chefs and restaurateurs) of the city didn’t know who they were serving, would the treatment received be the same? In an effort to discover the truth, our fearless heroine enlists the help of a Broadway make-up artist, and begins a cloak and dagger (minus the dagger) exploration of the underpinnings of New York’s finest offerings.   What follows is a fascinating parade of characters who receive a wide range of treatment, ranging from all-out fawning of the famous critic, to the dismal invisibility of an apparent “nobody”.

Now, to be fair, I’m a Food Network junkie, so books in this vein appeal to me.   I love food in all of its forms, be they visual, written, or best of all, actual and within reach.  Garlic and Sapphires is an eye-opening, mouth-watering tour of both haute cuisine, and hasty conclusions.

Writing Style:  Thumbs up!  Very easy to read.

 Characterization: Thumbs up~ fascinating array of all sorts.

Overall Story and Content: Thumbs Up!  Thoroughly interesting, very well executed.