A front-of-the-house Kitchen Confidential from a career maître d'hotel who manned the front of the room in New York City's hottest and most in-demand restaurants.
Riveting debut ... The narrative provides plenty of celebrity encounters, but also reveals how restaurants work ... Readers will gobble up the juicy gossip and decadent stories from a man who has seen it all.
Fast-paced, long on the meticulous details of service, unsparing of the salacious tales of sex, drugs, alcohol, run-ins with the mob, 'jumpers' within view of the River Café, and much more. Readers interested in the who’s who of the NYC celebrity world will not be disappointed ... Cecchi-Azzolina’s prose can border on abrasive and overly detailed, but at its best, his tales are entertaining and affecting ... His honesty in acknowledging the many ills of the industry’s past and its continued long journey to legitimacy is enlightening and refreshing. An overlong yet vivid, candid account of an admirable restaurant career.
