Turning the Tables
An Insider's Guide to Eating Out
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning food critic Steven A. Shaw (a.k.a. "The Fat Guy") can get a last-minute dinner reservation at the most popular hot spot in town. He knows how that flawless piece of fish reached your plate. He can read between the lines of a restaurant review, and he knows the secrets of why some restaurants succeed and others fail. Now he shares his insider's expertise with food lovers everywhere.
But Turning the Tables is much more than an invaluable how-to guide to eating out. Written with style and humor, it's an in-depth exploration of the restaurant world -- a celebration of the incredibly intricate workings of professional kitchens and dining rooms. It is a delectable feast from a uniquely down-to-earth gourmet who has crisscrossed North America in search of culinary knowledge at every level of the food chain -- from five-star temples of haute cuisine to barbecue joints and hot dog stands -- and who has never been afraid to get his hands greasy on the other side of the swinging kitchen door.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shaw, known in Internet food circles as the Fat Guy, and founder of the culinary Web site eGullet.org, offers a sort of Kitchen Confidential from the perspective of an average Joe (albeit a pretty swift one). He goes inside the kitchens of venerable New York establishments like Gramercy Tavern and Lespinasse, visits a Connecticut hot dog shack and a North Carolina BBQ joint. But while Anthony Bourdain is interested in telling readers why they should avoid eggs Benedict at all costs, Shaw takes more of a glass-half-full approach. He hangs out with a "reservationist" at the posh New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park, so he can learn how to snag a reservation at the last minute ("polite but confident persistence" is key). He advises readers to take the information in guides like Zagat's and restaurant reviews with a grain of salt: remember, they're just opinions. He also urges readers to pay attention to where food comes from and to try new things. A mixed bag of advice, insider information and soapboxing (on everything from organic food and "authentic cuisine" to restaurant critics), this opinionated diner's tour is sure to appeal to chowhounds in general and New Yorkers in particular.
