Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina

9 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.

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Drug use, Alcohol, and Abandonment

Moderate: Terminal illness, Excrement, and Racism

Minor: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Homophobia

zzfinch's review

adventurous funny reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

books_blackcats's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, and Grief

Mentions of AIDs

reeeeedmg_123's review

Too many dick stories. Pile that on top with the drugs, sex, and language use that it turns out to be really disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use

agnesg's review

funny informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol

sruhsh's review

funny informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse

rebeccazacuto's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Evocative of Kitchen Confidential, mirroring a similar reflective and dark tone. Not quite as funny as Bourdain, but entertaining none the less. Unveiling insider secrets about the restaurant industry from the front of house pov.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Addiction

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexism

Minor: Excrement and Suicide attempt