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Reviews tagging 'Sexism'
Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina
3 reviews
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
paulasnotsosecretdiary's review
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
This memoir of a career as a front-of-house staff and restaurant manager offers readers insight into the social history of New York from the 1980s and the AIDS crisis through the COVID pandemic. There are numerous anecdotes about outrageous behavior he witnessed and participated in as staff, and abusive conduct by customers. The author highlights his brushes with celebrities and those famous customers who are just as awful as one might imagine. He describes the intricacies of setting up a restaurant for service, the physical demands of food service, and how the best tables are reserved. With fine dining and the restaurant world forever changed by the COVID pandemic, this book may serve as a historic document of how things used to be, including the proper way to tip the Maitre d'Hotel to secure the table by the window. There is a lot of ugliness engaged in, by management, staff and customers that may turn some readers away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Sexism
Readers should be aware of the author's use of homophobic and sexist terms, and his criticism of Human Resources as an obstacle in firing staff (even when warranted). He does point out how conduct that was acceptable when he started in the 1980s is no longer tolerated, and workplaces are better for it.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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