The Mere Mortal's Guide to Fine Dining
From Salad Forks to Sommeliers, How to Eat and Drink in Style Without Fear of Faux Pas
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
From aperitif to digestif, approach every meal with savvy and grace.
We’ve all experienced Fancy-Pants Restaurant Jitters at some point – the fear that you will unknowingly commit some fine-dining crime, whether it’s using the wrong fork, picking an amateur wine, mispronouncing foie gras, or gasping when your fish entrée arrives with its head still attached. Relax. The Mere Mortal’s Guide to Fine Dining is the ultimate antidote to restaurant anxiety.
Where does your napkin go when you leave the table? Should you sniff the wine cork? And why, pray tell, are there so many forks? This comprehensive and accessible primer answers these and dozens of other questions and offers the basics on every aspect of fine dining, including:
* How to navigate a place setting
* Speaking menu-ese and the language of fine food
* A refresher on polite and polished table manners
* 911 for wine novices
* A carnivore’s guide to beef, pork, lamb, and veal
* What local, sustainable, and organic really mean
* Japanese dining dos and don’ts
* Who’s who on a restaurant’s staff
* How to be a regular—or get the perks like one
* Top restaurants across the country
* What the food snobs know (and you should, too)
* And much more…
With a little help, any Mere Mortal can order wine with confidence, get great, attitude-free service, decipher menus, and finally, truly, savor any dining experience.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Diners who don't know concasse from confit will find a wealth of information in Cosmopolitan contributing writer Rush's breezy guide to restaurant etiquette. Rush (Swim Naked, Defy Gravity, & 99 Other Essential Things to Do Before Turning 30) covers all aspects of dining, from how to land the best tables to navigating the place settings to choosing the best desserts in a straightforward manner. She demystifies restaurant customs such as ordering wine-and sending it back if it's afflicted with, say, "cork taint." Although tips on ordering caviar will only pertain to a small percentage of establishments, Rush's sage advice on basic manners and will enlighten just about anyone who ever sets foot in a restaurant: she provides guidelines for tipping, how to get treated like a regular at your favorite spots and even includes a handy reference guide for pairing fresh vegetables at their peak with main dishes and sides. The result is an extremely useful reference guide for anyone who wants to get serious about food, or wants to know how to eat couscous with a fork.