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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
A highly entertaining book about a maitre-d’s experience working in some of NYC’s finest and most famous (or infamous) establishments. Majority of this book takes place in the 80s and does not skimp on all the insanity (sex, drugs, crime, AIDS epidemic) that took place in restaurants and New York in general during the era.
Many reviewers seem offended by this but I think it paints an appropriate picture of the time and everything he experienced, as well as shows his growth through to the end of the book.
As someone who loves restaurants, food, and the whole experience I loved this inside look at what it takes to do the job well and have even deeper respect for those in the industry after reading this.
Was interesting juxtaposition reading after Unreasonable Hospitality.
Many reviewers seem offended by this but I think it paints an appropriate picture of the time and everything he experienced, as well as shows his growth through to the end of the book.
As someone who loves restaurants, food, and the whole experience I loved this inside look at what it takes to do the job well and have even deeper respect for those in the industry after reading this.
Was interesting juxtaposition reading after Unreasonable Hospitality.
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
This book had genuinely everything. I don’t like tot ate memoirs but I have to give the author their credit, as they took us from the hustle of the 80s New York restaurant scene to present day and all of the gristle, the drugs, the celebrity encounters, and the mafia ties in between. I am wishing the author nothing but the best on his newest venture. I hope many people read this as I would compare it to the likes of Kitchen Confidential as a great tell-all from the front end of the dining experience.
Part of me wants to make this zero stars, just because I got annoyed with the author's insistence on spelling out "maître d'hôtel" almost every time he used it, despite acknowledging--as the title does--that most people just say "maître d'."
Anyway. Cecchi-Azzonlina gives us a little bit of his childhood in Brooklyn, an altar boy whose family has Mob ties and who winds up working in a what's basically a soda shop. He discovers a love of acting as a teenager and after going to college in Florida, moves back to New York (Manhattan, not Brooklyn) and begins a career in restaurants. The book is a look at restaurants from the 70s to the 00s, most of which were quite hard for most people to actually visit, and what life was like for the front-of-house staff working at them.
It was a quick, largely enjoyable read. There were more penis stories than I needed, and the author clearly has mixed feelings about how working in a restaurant has changed over the years. I enjoyed stories of crazy nights and mishaps and trying to fit people into packed restaurants. It would've been helpful had he explained what, for example, a "captain" is; I get the gist of it, but some explanation would've been nice. He assumes that readers are familiar with high-end dining and famous restauranteur names; he name drops a LOT and a lot of it went over my head.
He did a good job showing the impact of the AIDS epidemic on New York restaurants and his section of Manhattan. I would've liked, I think, a bit more of a look into his personal life. He mentions sleeping with people, but only in a vague way and then suddenly he's married, with a kid. I realize he probably didn't want that much about his life in the book, but a bit more would've helped. I wonder if it wife vetoed it?
Still, I found it a good palate cleanser book. Pun intended.
Anyway. Cecchi-Azzonlina gives us a little bit of his childhood in Brooklyn, an altar boy whose family has Mob ties and who winds up working in a what's basically a soda shop. He discovers a love of acting as a teenager and after going to college in Florida, moves back to New York (Manhattan, not Brooklyn) and begins a career in restaurants. The book is a look at restaurants from the 70s to the 00s, most of which were quite hard for most people to actually visit, and what life was like for the front-of-house staff working at them.
It was a quick, largely enjoyable read. There were more penis stories than I needed, and the author clearly has mixed feelings about how working in a restaurant has changed over the years. I enjoyed stories of crazy nights and mishaps and trying to fit people into packed restaurants. It would've been helpful had he explained what, for example, a "captain" is; I get the gist of it, but some explanation would've been nice. He assumes that readers are familiar with high-end dining and famous restauranteur names; he name drops a LOT and a lot of it went over my head.
He did a good job showing the impact of the AIDS epidemic on New York restaurants and his section of Manhattan. I would've liked, I think, a bit more of a look into his personal life. He mentions sleeping with people, but only in a vague way and then suddenly he's married, with a kid. I realize he probably didn't want that much about his life in the book, but a bit more would've helped. I wonder if it wife vetoed it?
Still, I found it a good palate cleanser book. Pun intended.
I just feel like this author has a fundamental lack of understanding of why people picked up this book and incorrectly thinks people are interested in his life story specifically. Like the main character syndrome was oozing off the page.
He writes like this is the memoir of a famous person or influential historical figure whose origin story you would want to know. His experience in the industry should be the draw but it takes way too long to get there and the book is front loaded with stuff I just didn’t care about.
He writes like this is the memoir of a famous person or influential historical figure whose origin story you would want to know. His experience in the industry should be the draw but it takes way too long to get there and the book is front loaded with stuff I just didn’t care about.
Great audiobook - read by the author! A compelling tale of New York City’s finest restaurants. It was so fun to get the inside scoop on some local favorites. The author didn’t hold back on any of the details & dirt. It’s sex, drugs, and caviar galore.
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
This book was definitely an interesting read. I wasn't sure what exactly I was getting into but man was this story absolutely madness! Michael's history in the restaurant business over the decades was an eyeopener to the chaos that ensues behind the scene of popular NYC restaurants.
I enjoyed the the book overall especially the short chapters and that the author narrated the book. I do wish the book had been in more chronological order but it worked for this book.
I enjoyed the the book overall especially the short chapters and that the author narrated the book. I do wish the book had been in more chronological order but it worked for this book.
DNF at 12%
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a Netgalley of this book.
I was so excited to read this because being an ex-and-also-soon-to-be-again-New-Yorker, the restaurant culture is so fun and exciting. I was expecting stories from wild nights at the restaurants and behind the scenes stories of the master chefs and mixologists working there.
And maybe that happens…but I stopped read 12% into the book.
The author was incredibly crude in an unnecessary way (and that’s coming from someone who swears like a sailor) since the very beginning. It made me very uncomfortable to read, and therefore, I couldn’t finish this book. Some things that made me uncomfortable:
1. Calling someone the F slur because they were gay (because it was his “nickname”, but no “those were the times I would never refer to anyone that way now” alongside it)
2. Calling a woman coworker (also an aspiring actress) a “Nazi poster child” because she was efficient, didn’t take shit, and was good at her job. And happened to be blonde.
3. Slut shaming the same woman a page later by saying AND I QUOTE: “…I don’t believe this ever resulted in her getting an acting gig (even though she did end up on her back quite a few times attempting to)”. Not to mention this author slut shames the woman when she was in situations with men who were in positions of power so extra not cool.
And so many more instances that I truly don’t want to revisit.
I feel bad that I didn’t read the rest of the book because I was so excited to, and because St. Martin’s Press so graciously gave me a copy, but if the author was such a misogynistic jerk in the first 12% of this book, I don’t want to know what the rest of the book is like.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a Netgalley of this book.
I was so excited to read this because being an ex-and-also-soon-to-be-again-New-Yorker, the restaurant culture is so fun and exciting. I was expecting stories from wild nights at the restaurants and behind the scenes stories of the master chefs and mixologists working there.
And maybe that happens…but I stopped read 12% into the book.
The author was incredibly crude in an unnecessary way (and that’s coming from someone who swears like a sailor) since the very beginning. It made me very uncomfortable to read, and therefore, I couldn’t finish this book. Some things that made me uncomfortable:
1. Calling someone the F slur because they were gay (because it was his “nickname”, but no “those were the times I would never refer to anyone that way now” alongside it)
2. Calling a woman coworker (also an aspiring actress) a “Nazi poster child” because she was efficient, didn’t take shit, and was good at her job. And happened to be blonde.
3. Slut shaming the same woman a page later by saying AND I QUOTE: “…I don’t believe this ever resulted in her getting an acting gig (even though she did end up on her back quite a few times attempting to)”. Not to mention this author slut shames the woman when she was in situations with men who were in positions of power so extra not cool.
And so many more instances that I truly don’t want to revisit.
I feel bad that I didn’t read the rest of the book because I was so excited to, and because St. Martin’s Press so graciously gave me a copy, but if the author was such a misogynistic jerk in the first 12% of this book, I don’t want to know what the rest of the book is like.
Primarily listened to this one on my commute to/from work and on errands and it was entertaining for such activities, which is why I give it 3.5 stars, but I rounded up to 4. I couldn’t help but to feel some kind of weird way about the author, and listening to this on Audible might’ve had a negative impact on my rating. I think it’s that the author sounds and seems a bit smarmy and at times seems to aggrandize - he is probably a nice guy and I feel bad but that’s just how I felt listening to him talk about his run in with the mob and some of his chosen language for sexual encounters. I get it - his time in restaurants was a period when anything went, although it seemed more like the 70s and 80s than the 90s. As someone who waitressed at a restaurant labeled “a step below fine dining,” I appreciate the context on how the restaurants run - especially in NYC. His perspective is unique and appreciated.
I can’t knock it - it’s entertaining, insightful to how the front of the restaurant works vs the back; but I wonder, will I feel this smarmy vibe after I read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain? I don’t know.
I can’t knock it - it’s entertaining, insightful to how the front of the restaurant works vs the back; but I wonder, will I feel this smarmy vibe after I read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain? I don’t know.
If you like The Bear you’d love this. It’s like if The Bear made a spin off and it was about servers.