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A Meal Observed

A Meal Observed

List Price: $23.00
Your Price: $15.64
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Leaves me hungry
Review: A meal masquerading as a book, overstuffed with gratuitous details in order to pad what ought to be a magazine article about dining in a three-star Franch restaurant and observing the action behind the scenes.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: a meal observed
Review: Can't put the book down. Very interesting book about a dinning experience in France at one of the 3 star establishments. The only critisism is that the author tends too sway from the subject at hand. Overall I would recommend this book to one interested in knowing about the French proffesional kitchen and some of the personalities that make up the "brigade". This book has led me to others of similiar subject matter. I just skim the many pages of diversion to continue with the main account.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A description of how a professional kitchen is run
Review: Gourmet food fan Andrew Todhunter is both the American who travels in search of the best local foods and a writer who have spent months in restaurant kitchens learning behind-the-scenes processes: as such, his A MEAL OBSERVED is the perfect description of how a professional orchestrated kitchen is run. The reader may wonder how a single restaurant coverage can take up over two hundred pages: the meal in question is itself a five-hour affair: take in-depth descriptions of French dishes, add memoirs of the author's American childhood and foods, consider cooking methods and politics and add liberal dash of recipes at book's end and you have the answer.


Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Worth skipping through, if not skipping
Review: I am trying to make it to the end - too much filler in what I expected to be a much more informative book. Reading about Mr. Todhunter's personal experiences outside the restaurant are probably enjoyable if you are a member of his family, but that's as far as it goes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Meal Observed
Review: In this slim volume (about the size of a Zagat guide), freelance journalist Todhunter recounts a luxurious meal that he and his wife enjoyed at the world-famous Taillevent restaurant in Paris. It is no ordinary dinner, with numerous courses served over four hours, but what makes the story so compelling is Todhunter's behind-the-scenes insight into its creation. He spent three months as a reporter-apprentice, investigating every detail that makes Taillevent so special, from the precisely timed appearance of the staff to the evolution of its signature dishes over the last 50 years. Throughout, he divulges information about the inner workings of the kitchen and digresses upon details such as the chemistry involved in pastry or the history and development of salt and pepper as we know it. This splendid account from a nonfoodie (his previous books are on extreme sports) is recommended for most public libraries and any collections with an emphasis on French culture and cooking.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining Dining Vignette
Review: This was my first exposure to Andrew Todhunter's writing, and I was pleased to the extent I was able to learn about him, not just his dinner at Taillevant. He does veer off from the subject of the meal, but I thought that enhanced the reading experience. I also enjoyed his behind-the-scenes descriptions of the kitchen, which added an extra dimension. If you have ever had a meal in a restaurant of similar distinction, this book will allow you to relive that delicious experience. All-in-all, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in food and its professional preparation. And, if you are like me, it will act as an amuse bouche, making you want to read Todhunter's other books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Read!
Review: Todhunter, apparently at ease on towering rock faces, diving in frigid lakes, and storm kayaking, walks somewhat anxiously into the 3 star French restaurant Taillevent for a full course meal. He recounts the meal in such a way that one feels we are sitting at the table with him and his wife watching a time-honored and sacred ceremony take place. It is the ritual of haute cuisine performed meticulously by the world's best chefs, sommeliers, and servers, and described in wonderful detail by the author. I salivated through much of this read. Todhunter worked in the restaurant and interviewed many of the principal chefs. His treatment of the various views of cooking as art and the exploration of the contentious politics within the kitchen and between the chefs and servers is fascinating. I haven't enjoyed a personal essay on dining this much since Liebling's "Between Meals".

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Is Food a Showbusiness?
Review: We all eat with our eyes . So the make-up is part of what you pay for,if you have a professional like Taillevent.A highly overrated show-off restaurant , where the Americans are carefully segregated. because they are "too loud" Mr.Vrinat ,the owner, is as arrogant as he believes to be entitled to. If you want to have a real meal in Paris go to the "Ami Louis" where President Chirac took President Clinton. It is not cheaper, but infinitely better

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A disappointment
Review: You think you're going to read a book describing an incredible meal at one of the world's finest restaurants with some tasty insights about what goes on behind the scenes in the kitchen. Instead you get -- ugh -- filler. Todhunter likes to go off on rambling tangents about, for instance, the history of salt. Feels like padding to me. I have dined at this caliber of Paris restaurant and have also worked in a three-star kitchen there, and there is so much more that could have been said. Save your money.


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