Review: Service Included

Service Included:  Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter

by Phoebe Damrosch

Published by William Morrow (imprint of HarperCollins)

copyright:  2007

rating:  4 out of 5

I have a confession to make.  I secretly read People magazine.

I know....it is sad, but true.  There is something about reading the lives of the rich and famous that I find intriguing.  I think it is because it is a lifestyle that I will NEVER experience (this coming from someone whose mantra is "never say never") and I almost feel as if I am transported into a fairy tale existence in the midst of my real, mundane, incredibly ordinary world (and sometimes it is good to know that the affluent have problems too - just not the same problems that I am faced with)

Another confession, although not nearly as embarrassing, is that my default television channel is the Food Network.  I watch very little television, but if I want something on while surfing the net or reading the blogs, it is the Food Network.  I distinctly remember videotaping every episode of Master Chefs when it was aired on PBS in the 80s.  This was the closest thing to the Food Network at that time and I would savor every chef - every recipe - every culinary tip.  I think if I were ever to live my life differently, I would have pursued a baking profession.

So now that you know my two deep, dark secrets - you will understand why I enjoyed this gossipy book of the food service industry.  The author becomes the captain at one of New York's 4 star restaurants, Per Se, which is owned by the famed restaurateur and chef, Thomas Keller, who also owns the French Laundry, lauded as one of the top restaurants in the United States.  I had not heard of this particular restaurant (in my NYC days the most lauded restaurants included La Cote Basque and The Four Seasons ), so I decided to do a little google search.  The menu changes daily - but on this particular search I found the Chef's Tasting Menu listed for the prix fixe of $275 per person.  This does NOT include wine (which can range upwards of $3,000 a bottle), but it does include gratuity.  On more than one occasion the author mentioned the total bill of a guest at $20,000.  This is obviously NOT my demographic group.

And yet....I found myself captivated by the behind-the-scenes details of servicing a clientele that can afford such a meal.  The attitude of "the customer is always right" and the willingness to cater to any culinary whim of said customer - whether it be a food allergy, an aversion to a particular food group, or just a personal quirk - is somehow satisfying to me.

I would think it would be rather easy for the writing of this subject matter to come across as pompous or condescending (and perhaps for some other readers it does), but I found that the author's wit and humorous outlook on life, coupled with her eloquent writing style that is so descriptive I felt as though I was sitting in the restaurant with her, riveted me to want to read more. 

The book not only gives the reader a glimpse into the restaurant life - but also into the lives of those who frequent such restaurants (there are numerous mentions of catering to the under 12 years old age group - which in my wildest dreams I cannot imagine them appreciating the cost of such culinary delicacies).  There is also an auto-biographical narrative that is infused throughout the book that held my interest as well.  The author is actually a graduate of the MFA program of Sarah Lawrence University, and I was incredibly pleased to discover on her website that her love-interest in the book actually becomes a happily ever after story with the two of them finding an apartment together and giving birth to their first child.  

While many of the dishes I will never taste (like beef bone marrow - of which they actually organized their own sample tasting of three distinguished New York restaurants), I did find myself longing to savor the shaving of a single truffle.  

Yes, my tastes definitely lie more in line with Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (we actually plan to drive to Omaha this weekend to visit one of his recommendations) - bud I did find this book very interesting and I look forward to reading more of this author's works.