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Reviews tagging 'Death'
Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina
5 reviews
laneylo's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Interesting times were documented in this memoir. If you, like me, have worked in the food industry or have ever been curious about what goes on - perhaps fans of food travel channels - this book is so enthralling. Definitely a niche topic but the author has so much personality and it was very entertaining overall.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, and Cursing
Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Excrement, Death, Abandonment, and Drug use
thewordsdevourer's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.75
your table is ready is sure to rough some feathers w/ its depiction of the rough, chaotic, sometimes entertaining but more often unhinged world of the resto service industry in nyc.
some of the anecdotes def elicit disgust but who's to police a person on what events from their life not to include in a memoir? i enjoy hearing abt the bts of restos, the competitive yet often boisterous community that service ppl create and the anecdotes on real, often famous characters who visit the many restos cecchi-azzolina worked at.
some of the anecdotes def elicit disgust but who's to police a person on what events from their life not to include in a memoir? i enjoy hearing abt the bts of restos, the competitive yet often boisterous community that service ppl create and the anecdotes on real, often famous characters who visit the many restos cecchi-azzolina worked at.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Drug use, Alcohol, and Abandonment
Moderate: Terminal illness, Excrement, and Racism
Minor: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Homophobia
amcgriff's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
1.5
I read Kitchen Confidential years ago, but from what I remember it was much better. It felt like the author wanted to be shocking and revelatory. But it's not shocking as much as it is repetitive tales of bad behavior, mundane adrenaline tinged services and faux disasters in the making with wealthy people and celebrities sprinkled throughout. Anyone that worked front of house will have moments of feeling nostalgic or have PTSD flashbacks, maybe a little of both.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Misogyny, Alcohol, Drug use, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Physical abuse, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Minor: Death, Excrement, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
magdalena_rose's review
dark
funny
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Cursing, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
art_books_chemistry's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.25
After reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential earlier this year, I was extremely excited to see a front of house version! Growing up in food service I've worked every aspect, especially since I mainly worked for my parents catering business and restaurants. However, my heart has always been in the front of house and when I started working for other people, that's where I stayed. I've never worked true fine dining so some aspects of this story were different for me but the modern maître d'hotel is closer to a front of house manager, a position I am well acquainted with. Regardless, Michael's tale includes all the front of house misfits, from the bar to the runners to the maitre d' and of course, the servers.
Just like Bourdain's memoir, this is not for the morally squeamish. If you're a pearl-clutcher, I don't recommend this as there is copious drinking, sexual activities, and some very dark humor. But if you can stand it, this memoir is a fascinating look into the NYC restaurant scene from the 80s to now. It's perfect for those that were around NYC at that time and recognize the places, as well as those that have only ever seen the City on TV. It's even great if you're curious what growing up NY Italian in the mafia age was like or the dining attitudes of famous celebrities. I need to ask my mom where my 3 Sunday meatballs were when I was a kid! Just kidding, her meatballs are bomb but split pea soup is one of my favorite childhood meals.
My only complaints about Michael's writing are his repetitiveness and his time jumping. He would occasionally repeat the same information about the same restaurant or person within the same chapter. His stories would also sometimes go off on tangents that could time jump anywhere from a few months to a few years but then not tell the reader when we went back in time to the main story. I would have preferred if there was more context of when events happened, like "I started at X in 1985". There were occasional allusions or statements to years but they were few and far between.
In sum, this is a hilarious memoir about restaurant life in NYC and positively entertaining from a perspective often ignored.
Just like Bourdain's memoir, this is not for the morally squeamish. If you're a pearl-clutcher, I don't recommend this as there is copious drinking, sexual activities, and some very dark humor. But if you can stand it, this memoir is a fascinating look into the NYC restaurant scene from the 80s to now. It's perfect for those that were around NYC at that time and recognize the places, as well as those that have only ever seen the City on TV. It's even great if you're curious what growing up NY Italian in the mafia age was like or the dining attitudes of famous celebrities. I need to ask my mom where my 3 Sunday meatballs were when I was a kid! Just kidding, her meatballs are bomb but split pea soup is one of my favorite childhood meals.
My only complaints about Michael's writing are his repetitiveness and his time jumping. He would occasionally repeat the same information about the same restaurant or person within the same chapter. His stories would also sometimes go off on tangents that could time jump anywhere from a few months to a few years but then not tell the reader when we went back in time to the main story. I would have preferred if there was more context of when events happened, like "I started at X in 1985". There were occasional allusions or statements to years but they were few and far between.
In sum, this is a hilarious memoir about restaurant life in NYC and positively entertaining from a perspective often ignored.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexism
Minor: Excrement and Suicide attempt
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