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macnchz's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know if I liked the first parts better than the later ones, or whether Trillin's repeated jokes and anecdotes just got old. I enjoyed it at first, but I think perhaps this is not a book you should read all in one go, because I got sick of it pretty quickly.
carolynf's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the language is dated, which is not surprising since these essays written in the 70s and 80s. If you are a food enthusiast the essays will hold up well, but if restaurants and state fairs don't interest you then this will be a dull read. Many essays focus on cities across the US, but it is rare to find one that doesn't work in a Kansas City reference somewhere. This brought up a lot of memories of Strouds, Zardas, and of course Winsteads.
lindzee's review against another edition
4.0
Good stories, good narration. Would probably be better read more spread out, that is, one book at a time.
whatsnonfiction's review against another edition
4.0
“I once ordered something called Scalone — despite the fact that it sounded more like the water commissioner of Hoboken then something to eat”
“The English style of Continental cuisine was planted, I’ve always thought, by some anglophobic Frenchman who managed to persuade dozens of perspective restaurant proprietors and country–hotel keepers that the way to prepare sophisticated food was to stuff something with something – almost anything — else, and then to obscure the scene of the crime with a heavy, lava-like sauce.”
If these mesh with your sense of food-related humor, you’ll love this. It was quite the trip. Maybe some of it is a bit outdated, and due to being three little books mushed together there’s definitely some repetition in themes and specific topics (Chinese food obsession, scheming to get the wall menus of Chinatown restaurants translated, a former fat man’s New York pizza restaurant and eating trips to Kansas City, etc.) but it’s very entertaining nonetheless and just fun to read. He has a really clever way with words too, so that sometimes you’d get to the end of a pretty meandering or complex sentence and realize what a hilarious joke it was. Definitely one of the best books looking at what’s special and often overlooked in regional American cuisines.
“The English style of Continental cuisine was planted, I’ve always thought, by some anglophobic Frenchman who managed to persuade dozens of perspective restaurant proprietors and country–hotel keepers that the way to prepare sophisticated food was to stuff something with something – almost anything — else, and then to obscure the scene of the crime with a heavy, lava-like sauce.”
If these mesh with your sense of food-related humor, you’ll love this. It was quite the trip. Maybe some of it is a bit outdated, and due to being three little books mushed together there’s definitely some repetition in themes and specific topics (Chinese food obsession, scheming to get the wall menus of Chinatown restaurants translated, a former fat man’s New York pizza restaurant and eating trips to Kansas City, etc.) but it’s very entertaining nonetheless and just fun to read. He has a really clever way with words too, so that sometimes you’d get to the end of a pretty meandering or complex sentence and realize what a hilarious joke it was. Definitely one of the best books looking at what’s special and often overlooked in regional American cuisines.
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