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eggjen's review
5.0
This book reads like a good friend sharing her experiences and giving all the best information she can in the most accessible way. I love how expertly Rehak combines her parental anecdotes with tales of restaurant and farm life – with some fun recipes and silliness thrown in! It had me laughing on a nightly basis, drooling over delicious descriptions of food, ear marking recipes and quoting passages out loud to my husband constantly! I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best books I’ve read this year and maybe ever – I want to share this book with everyone I know!
jenniferdenslow's review
3.0
Rehak tries to draw together different streams of thought, from interacting with food as a parent, a producer, and a chef, to present a synthesis. While her writing is engaging, the focus of the book lacks clarity. I liked the passages about the restaurant and her family table best. Someone else might prefer the parts about food production.
kristennd's review against another edition
4.0
I particularly appreciated how mellow this book was, especially compared to so much writing in the genre. Her research led to some behavior modification, but nothing radical. And even the organic chefs and farmers that were interviewed all had the occasional junk food habit and recognized that sometimes a toddler will only eat a chicken nugget. Not to mention recognizing that there is still a limit to how much organic etc that most of us can afford or even find. No guilt!
There are some talented food bloggers out there, but I did appreciate that this actually started out as a professional writer with a contract instead. It's a refreshing change these days and you get less of the spoiled Manhattanite baggage and other overly-personal tangents. She even got trouper/trooper right.
The downside to the end-of-chapter recipes of course is that there's always something even tastier-sounding that doesn't appear (green apple slaw with lime, please!), and one seemed to have a typo (pork tenderloin), but they're still a fun bonus.
Your reaction to her Cheerios anecdote in the beginning will probably indicate your overall take on the book. I gave that a big, compatriot thumbs up.
Now I need to mail order some Bloomsday cheese.
There are some talented food bloggers out there, but I did appreciate that this actually started out as a professional writer with a contract instead. It's a refreshing change these days and you get less of the spoiled Manhattanite baggage and other overly-personal tangents. She even got trouper/trooper right.
The downside to the end-of-chapter recipes of course is that there's always something even tastier-sounding that doesn't appear (green apple slaw with lime, please!), and one seemed to have a typo (pork tenderloin), but they're still a fun bonus.
Your reaction to her Cheerios anecdote in the beginning will probably indicate your overall take on the book. I gave that a big, compatriot thumbs up.
Now I need to mail order some Bloomsday cheese.
kickpleat's review against another edition
4.0
Another one of those books examining where our food comes from and why we make the choices we do. But liked it anyway. I did actually learn about how an organic farm gets its produce out to stores, what's really involved for small fishing boats and the kitchen end of restaurant work is always kind of fascinating. While the book jacket talks to parents about feeding a picky kid, there really wasn't much on that in this book (which was good for a picky adult like myself). Three and a half stars.
lindzee's review
4.0
It would be so easy for this book to be judgmental, but the author/narrator does a very good job of not judging and of helping.
An interesting read about the state of food in the US.
An interesting read about the state of food in the US.
bibliocatts's review
4.0
Ironically, this was the book I kept on my dining room table to read while eating. I loved Rehak's honest voice; to me she was more the frustrated mom trying to learn about food than being preachy about the kinds of foods we all eat. Her ramblings and visits to the farms that supply applewood restaurant certainly got me to thinking about the way I feed my family. I'd really like to explore food from the meat-is-luxury standpoint, honor the protein and all that.
djdrysdale's review
3.0
Not bad, if a bit familiar. The author takes the occasion of her son learning to eat solid foods as the inspiration to reimagine her own relationship to food, working in a restaurant, on some farms, and on a fishing boat along the way. The voice is friendly and engaging, but this book lacks the urgency and energy of other calls to re-evaluate where the food we eat comes from, such as Michael Pollan's work (which is clearly an influence). Think of this as a diet version of Pollan or a more family-friendly version of Kitchen Confidential of Heat. If that sounds good to you, check this out.
kedawen's review against another edition
4.0
This book just plain made me happy. The restaurant she works in sounds like the friendliest and tastiest place ever. All the farms (and a fishery) she visited connected together so well as she described the complete process for the food made at the restaurant. Yet another book that inspires me to use more local food and cook healthy delicious meals. Above and beyond all that, the author’s writing flows so easily, I ended up reading more than a hundred pages in one sitting and didn't notice until I got to the end.
ashleyspilk's review against another edition
2.0
Should have been called "cooking for beginners" or "investigative journalism for beginners". Kind of weak on content, big on heart.