Rating: 
Summary: Good Read - A good look at what my wife is going to do
Review: I thought it was a very good look at " A day in the life" even though I am sure that it is a lot more difficult than this. My wife will read this book some 6 months away from the time I leave my job to enter the CIA and then sounds like many things will fall into the same pattern as what the wife and chef are dealing with currently. I think this is a very good book and it holds nothing back. Great Job and I think they will have great success...Guy - WV
Rating: 
Summary: A very good book for restaurant beginners
Review: I, too, am the wife of a chef, and I, too, run the business with my husband, so this book appealed to me greatly. Courtney follows the day-to-day interactions and business happenings that make running a restaurant with your spouse *very* entertaining. Not only that, but she was thrown into it at a young age, just by being the wife of the chef, and has to learn new things about running the business every day.
I greatly identified with this book, and I send a big kudos to Courtney, and others in her shoes!
Rating: 
Summary: Tough Love
Review: If you've ever thought you might want to be a part of the food world, you should read this book. Ms. Febbroriello certainly has a unique perspective, not only as wife of the chef and co-owner of a restaurant -- but as someone who shows only a passing interest in food at all. When her mother found out Courtney was dating a chef, she is quoted as saying, "That's such a waste. I should be the one dating a chef. At least I like food." Unfortunately, the author gives you all of the angst, drudgery, money worries, long hours, food hassles, media politics, etc. to running a restaurant without that gut-level passion for food that would make you believe that she feels it is all worthwhile. Her sense of humor is sometimes right on, like her "Chef Envy" references, and sometimes just feels crass or more like whining. This is Febbroriello's personal account (and keep in mind she is about 27 yrs, from my figuring), but there's so much that gets annoying after a while. Many of the start-up and running problems evolve from taking on a job (all the administration, advertising, as well as sometimes waiting tables, hosting, and making and selling pre-packaged goods) that she goes into without any training, and trying to do so much without having any kind of a money cushion in place. While her energy and drive is admirable--only a young person could keep up with her long hours and physical exertion on so little sleep--you can't help thinking that if they had waited to open the restaurant until they had a bit more preparation and savings, even the craziness of the restaurant world wouldn't be this harried.
Her references to wormy English muffins as a child, and the filthy, roach-infested restaurant she had worked in years earlier is more than you want to know (as well as her dirty home and clothes because there's no time for that), but her insider info on mark-up, menus, and more is very interesting.
I wish her and the chef all the best--and a chance to rest one of these days!
Rating:
Summary: Check it out from the library
Review: It's a good book with some interesting insights into the food industry. The author began by sharing her frustrations with the industry and the lack of recognition she receives. However, the frustrations soon turned into rants which turned into flat-out whining. It was amusing to find out that, not only is she a vegetarian, she so picky she seems to only eat food she has prepared (and that's mac and cheese). What was originally an amusingly irony, turned into [...] selfishness. The author is so picky that when her husband cooked at the James Beard House, she had to send her parents instead of attending herself because she refused to eat any of the food. Overall, it was a good summer read but I wouldn't want to reread it.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor chef!!!
Review: Like several other reviewers, I finished this book with a sense that Ms. Febbroriello might not be a person I could get along with, because first of all, she hates--and is ignorant about--food. I cannot imagine being in the food business and not liking food, eating, cooking, and learning about new foods or dishes. I have been in the food business as a caterer and a line cook, so I know that one thing she does get right is the sheer frenetic lifestyle. But I felt sorry for the poor chef married to a person with whom he cannot share the greatest passion of his life, which is obviously food. Her descriptions of how he stops at ethnic groceries points out this passion is very important to him--after all, he IS a chef! She summed it up well when she said that the food in their restaurant is merely a product that they sell. Where's the love? Not in this book.
Rating:
Summary: great insights on the business
Review: My boyfriend is a chef, and he was the one who recommended this book, since I work in a totally different industry, and we are hoping to open a restaurant together someday. The book has given me greater understanding on how the restaurant business works. There's a lot of great insight on what goes on in the kitchen, in the front of the "house" (not to mention the hours!) and the subculture for people who are in this line of work. Reading this book is helpful to someone like me, who is a foodie, but not necessarily knowledgeable of the restaurant industry. It also helps me appreciate all the stuff that goes on for every meal I order at a restaurant. Albeit, it doesn't have all the answers on how to run a restaurant, but I am left with a much better understanding of what it entails after reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: Honest and humorous, lots of tips throughout
Review: My friends and I are about to start a business of our own, and her book gave us clear insight into the things we will be getting ourselves into -- things we hadn't ever considered, like taking on as-needed tasks despite what your 'job is', expecting high staff turnover (it's the nature of the beast), putting in the hours, struggling throught the first months to make it to the break-even point... I feel much better prepared for what's ahead, and especially, I now have an idea of how the work is going to -feel-, task by task and day by day. I was especially struck by the author's straightforwardness and directness in telling her stories.
Rating:
Summary: Hit the nail on the head
Review: This book was a hilarious, but true explanation of the life of a chef's wife. I would recommend it to any woman trying to truly understand what is going on in his head!!! It is so accurate, I starting highlighting sections, so my husband would notice the similarities as well!! You won't want to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible......
Review: This book was very poorly written - and inappropriately crude. As a woman in a similar situation myself, I'm embarrassed by Febbroriello's book. I can't believe this book was ever published. Life's too short to read a bad book.... save your time for something else!
Rating:
Summary: Love the Wife!
Review: This is one of the funniest books I've ever read! I'm the wife of an attorney but I could totally relate to the chef and wife relationship. I've been sending copies to all of my friends. The story about the woman eating from the marrow bone and the trip to the aquarium where the chef drools over the fish had me laughing out loud. Love it!
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