Tender at the Bone – Ruth Reichl

About: Ruth Reichl shares lessons learned at the hands (and kitchen counters) of family members and friends throughout her life, from growing up with her taste-blind mother to the comfort of cream puffs while away at boarding school on “Mars” (Montreal seemed just as far away) to her most memorable meal, taken on a mountainside in Greece. Her stories shine with the voices and recipes of those she has encountered on the way, such as her Aunt Birdie’s maid and companion, Alice, who first taught Reichl both the power of cooking and how to make perfect apple dumplings; the family’s mysterious patrician housekeeper, Mrs. Peavey, who always remembered to make extra pastry for the beef Wellington; Serafina, the college roommate with whom Reichl explored a time of protest and political and personal discovery; and, finally, cookbook author Marion Cunningham, who, after tales of her midlife struggles and transformation, gave Reichl the strength to overcome her own anxieties.

Reichl’s wry and gentle humor pervades the book, and makes readers feel as if they’re right at the table, laughing at one great story after another (and delighting in a gourmet meal at the same time, of course). Reichl’s narrative of a life lived and remembered through the palate will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

My thoughts: One of my favorite questions is from the short-lived and under-appreciated show “My So-Called Life.” Jared Leto (Jordan Catalano) asks Claire Danes (Angela Chase) in his signature drawl, “Why are you, like, the way that you are?”

Ruth Reichl’s answer to my favorite question lies in the pages of Tender at the Bone. From childhood to adolescence and eventually to adulthood, Reichl takes readers through the memories, meals, and characters that have shaped her life. The road she travels to becoming the restaurant critic for the New York Times and Editor-in-Chief at Gourmet is surprising and hilarious. Let’s just say she was never hip and a hardcore hippie. I fell in love with Reichl after reading Garlic and Sapphires. And with Tender at the Bone, my admiration grows even deeper.

Garlic and Sapphires – Ruth Reichl

About: As the New York Times’s restaurant critic for most of the 1990s, Reichl had what some might consider the best job in town; among her missions were evaluating New York City’s steakhouses, deciding whether Le Cirque deserved four stars and tracking down the best place for authentic Chinese cuisine in Queens. Thankfully, the rest of us can live that life vicariously through this vivacious, fascinating memoir. The book—Reichl’s third—lifts the lid on the city’s storied restaurant culture from the democratic perspective of the everyday diner. Reichl creates wildly innovative getups, becoming Brenda, a red-haired aging hippie, to test the food at Daniel; Chloe, a blonde divorcée, to evaluate Lespinasse; and even her deceased mother, Miriam, to dine at 21. Such elaborate disguises—which include wigs, makeup, thrift store finds and even credit cards in other names—help Reichl maintain anonymity in her work, but they also do more than that. “Every restaurant is a theater,” she explains. Each one “offer[s] the opportunity to become someone else, at least for a little while. Restaurants free us from mundane reality.” Reichl’s ability to experience meals in such a dramatic way brings an infectious passion to her memoir. Reading this work—which also includes the finished reviews that appeared in the newspaper, as well as a few recipes—ensures that the next time readers sit down in a restaurant, they’ll notice things they’ve never noticed before.

My thoughts: Ruth Reichl is my new hero. She’s brilliant, hilarious, a fantastic writer, and doesn’t take herself too seriously. I picked up Garlic and Sapphires on a whim after she was quoted on a foodie website. I finished the 300+ page book in under a week because it was that good!

Reichl is not a food snob. During her tenure at the New York Times she controversially gave multiple stars to restaurants that weren’t French and/or pricey and made ethnic fare (Korean, Chinese, Japanese) approachable to the general public. I appreciated how she wrote from an outsider’s perspective about the snobbery and pretension of some well-known New York restaurants. Eateries should definitely be called out for their mistreatment of diners who aren’t clad in fur and other status symbols.

This book is much more than it initially appears to be and covers a range of pertinent issues such as family, class, and gender. While I definitely learned a thing or two about restaurants and food after reading Garlic and Sapphires, I also took away some valuable lessons about life.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan

About: What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire, how we answer it today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may well determine our very survival as a species. Should we eat a fast-food hamburger? Something organic? Or perhaps something we hunt, gather, or grow ourselves? The omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape. What’s at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children’s health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth.

In this groundbreaking book, one of America’s most fascinating, original, and elegant writers turns his own omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us—industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves—from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating. His absorbing narrative takes us from Iowa cornfields to food-science laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds, always emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. Each time Pollan sits down to a meal, he deploys his unique blend of personal and investigative journalism to trace the origins of everything consumed, revealing what we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods and flavors reflects our evolutionary inheritance.

The surprising answers Pollan offers to the simple question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore’s Dilemma promises to change the way we think about the politics and pleasure of eating. For anyone who reads it, dinner will never again look, or taste, quite the same.

My thoughts: The Omnivore’s Dilemma was a fantastic read. Like all good journalists, Pollan ditches extraneous details and puts forth the facts in a straightforward manner. My favorite chapters discussed the deep flaws of the “organic industrial” complex. Prior to reading this book, I always equated the term “organic” with healthy and wholesome foods. I never considered the environmental implications, namely fossil fuel consumption i.e. dependence on foreign oil, with shipping organic foods across the land. It is not okay to ship produce from Chile to the States regardless of its organic certification. This sort of disregard for locality, seasonality, and sustainability characterizes the organic trend (see: Walmart). I will definitely think twice before buying “organic” produce and “free-range” meats from now on.

On the flip side, Pollan also examines the beauty of a “grass farm” where the animals are co-dependent on the land and to one another. Waste does not exist on this farm. The principles that run this operation go above and beyond the government’s organic standards and ideally should be replicated all over the United States.

The Great American Detox Diet – Alex Jamieson

About: Here, in response to all the requests, is the detox program that undid the damage Morgan Spurlock-director and star of Super Size Me-did to his body in a month of gorging on nothing but McDonald’s What would happen if you ate nothing but fast food for an entire month? That’s what filmmaker Morgan Spurlock attempted to find out by making his scathing tongue-in-cheek documentary Super Size Me. A 33-year-old New Yorker in excellent health, he would eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days, to gauge the effects on his body. The results were shocking: He gained almost 30 pounds, saw his cholesterol skyrocket, and developed chest pains and dangerously high blood pressure.

My thoughts: If it weren’t for Morgan Spurlock’s coattails, I probably would not have picked up this book. Although a lot of the information wasn’t new to me, I really enjoyed it overall. The book is divided into three sections. The first deals with the author’s own experience as a junk food fiend. Eating junk food caused the author to suffer from fatigue, migraines, and candidiasis. After feeling so crappy, she converted to a whole foods diet. The second chapter talks about the actual detoxing process. Besides addressing the nutritional aspects of detoxing (i.e. no refined flours or sugars, no caffeine, healthful fats, whole grain carbs, and lean protein), the author also emphasizes the importance of ambiant factors such as stress, relationships, sleep, and mental stability. I really liked this well-rounded approach. The last section lists book and website resources, as well as a collection of vegan recipes.

I took a couple of fun facts away from reading this book. Firstly, fats serve as lubricants for our bones. Yay! I like to think of this fact as I’m running. Secondly, fibrous foods serve as wonderful “scrubbers” for our digestive system. Fascinating! Lastly, Stevia might be a great natural and calorie-free alternative to sugar. I’m excited about experimenting with Stevia in my future baking endeavors.

Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out – Steven A. Shaw

About: Go behind the swinging doors of the restaurant world with eGullet’s irreverent Fat Guy.

Have you ever wondered how that flawless piece of fish or that rare farmstead cheese reached your plate? Or how to read between the lines of a restaurant review? Or why some restaurants succeed while others fail?

Steven A. Shaw has the answers — and he offers them up with style and humor. More than a how-to guide, Turning the Tables is an exploration and a celebration of the incredibly intricate workings of professional kitchens and dining rooms.

No snooty critic, Shaw has crisscrossed North America in search of insider knowledge at every level, from temples of haute cuisine to barbecue joints and hot dog stands. He has gone undercover in kitchens and dining rooms, trailed top restaurateurs and suppliers, and has the burns, girth, and aching feet to prove it.

In Turning the Tables, Shaw weaves an intriguing tapestry of journalism and opinion to deliver an unprecedented look at every aspect of the world of restaurants. His infectious enthusiasm and penetrating observations make Turning the Tables a joy to read. It is a paean to the cooks, servers, farmers, and restaurateurs who sustain us, and an unrivaled examination of a world that remains hidden to most.

My thoughts: A fun and easy read with some good advice about how to get reservations at uber popular restaurants (“polite but confident persistence” is key). He advises readers to take the information in guides like Zagat’s and restaurant reviews with a grain of salt: remember, they’re just opinions. He also doubts the accuracy of Michelin ratings in Europe and America. This man is really opinionated, which is especially annoying when I disagree with what he’s saying. Case in point, he states that organic produce is not superior to the regular stuff. He also thinks that grass and grain fed animals are nothing special. Steven Shaw needs to read What to Eat and Fastfood Nation.