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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
lighthearted
medium-paced
I love Le Coucou and not knowing that’s where this book starts and ends is a treat. Solid book with some very good stories of his time at some of the best restaurants in NYC.
medium-paced
A little slow to start but then I got into his story. I enjoyed the stories about the customers and the BTS of the restaurant world.
adventurous
fast-paced
The author is a very talented storyteller, and these stories of a 35+ year career in the restaurant world are sometimes astounding, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes maddening.
Makes me appreciate the joy of fine dining!!!
Makes me appreciate the joy of fine dining!!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Michael Cecchi-Azzolina’s NYC restaurant veteran narrative, while undeniably brash and crass, is masterful storytelling complete with star-studded anecdotes and whole-body-cringe service nightmare scenarios that made me audibly gasp in public while listening to his self-read audiobook. A captivating memoir as much as a vignette of NYC’s raucous 80’s high flying dining era, the book is reflective and endlessly entertaining. In Cecchi’s telling, the world of NYC dining is nothing short of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. One suspends disbelief as all characters are inevitably caricaturized, in a way only befitting a Brooklyn Italian voice. I might also note that the subject matter can get heavy and one might smart at the way he at times talks about women and his… appetite for them. Pun intended. All worth the while to hear his one of a kind perspective.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Alcohol
3.5 stars
I requested this to try something outside of my usual romance or mystery reads. It’s surprisingly good! I feel like I’m sitting down in a private room at a cafe or restaurant and enjoying an evening full of storytelling from someone I’ve just met.
There was a lot of name-dropping, but these stories were engaging, like the kind you'd listen to if visiting a friend who was invited to some sort of dinner party of a friend of a friend and everyone couldn't avoid listening to the loud, obnoxious guy in the back. Sure he was full of himself, but a fair amount of the stories were fun.
Your Table is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina is a collection of his personal stories about his life in the NYC restaurant industry. He spent a lot of time talking about his youth, working in and around the mob, before finally getting to actual restaurant stories.
A lot of his stories, narrated by the author himself, centered around which employees were sleeping with whom (Worded a tad differently in the narration) and who was doing which drug, especially how to use the drugs they stored in the ice bins behind the bar.
Side notes:
* I enjoyed the fact that the author did his own narration.
* The author seemed more interested in sharing who he slept with and when, misogyny be damned, rather than more interesting Maitre d' stories.
* I still enjoyed the book.
Thanks very much to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.
I requested this to try something outside of my usual romance or mystery reads. It’s surprisingly good! I feel like I’m sitting down in a private room at a cafe or restaurant and enjoying an evening full of storytelling from someone I’ve just met.
There was a lot of name-dropping, but these stories were engaging, like the kind you'd listen to if visiting a friend who was invited to some sort of dinner party of a friend of a friend and everyone couldn't avoid listening to the loud, obnoxious guy in the back. Sure he was full of himself, but a fair amount of the stories were fun.
Your Table is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina is a collection of his personal stories about his life in the NYC restaurant industry. He spent a lot of time talking about his youth, working in and around the mob, before finally getting to actual restaurant stories.
A lot of his stories, narrated by the author himself, centered around which employees were sleeping with whom (Worded a tad differently in the narration) and who was doing which drug, especially how to use the drugs they stored in the ice bins behind the bar.
Side notes:
* I enjoyed the fact that the author did his own narration.
* The author seemed more interested in sharing who he slept with and when, misogyny be damned, rather than more interesting Maitre d' stories.
* I still enjoyed the book.
Thanks very much to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.