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Rating: 
Summary: A Year to Grasp That Elusive Missing Star
Review: Brenner scopes out one of the world's finest eateries as it pursues the missing star--the fourth from food reviewer Wm. Grimes.In this we see the top of the culinary world in action, amazingly from an unencumbered inside view. Boulud allows the author pretty much free access to the internal workings of Daniel. What is reported is a calculated mad dash at service time to prepare amazing dishes on time to serve them so that it appears to the customer as seamless and enchanting how this marvelous food appears. The controlled chaos that is observed among the army of cooks, the pass and wait team is of a world and language even many of us home gourmets are unaccustomed to. Fire this and where's this and too much of this, etc. Having cooked for hundreds on an evening, this appears to be nothing compared to this monumental complex of intricate, complex gourmet construction. It was most useful to hear from the reviewer Grimes at the end why he initially gave three stars and then changed it to four. Further, his explanation as to what each star meant was enlightening. For us gourmands and those in or interested in entering this field, this is captivating reading. For even those who just enjoy superior dining, this is revelation of the highest from one of the world's best.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but frustrating
Review: I dined at Daniel for the second time last week, and read this book since then, thus finding it of great interest. If you haven't eaten at Daniel, your enjoyment of the book will certainly be lessened, but I think you'll still find it of interest. Daniel IS an experience, and the best meal I've ever had (the next best meal was at the Chevre d'Or in Eze, France), and so it's worth peeking behind the scenes to see how the magician prepares his magic. One shocker was to read that Daniel Boulud has installed 16 cameras throughout the restaurant so he can spy on you to see how you are enjoying (or not!) your fare! But I guess I can't quibble when the results are so spectacular.
Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I love everything about food so was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I found it to be a huge disappointment. While there are certainly some very interesting anecdotes on how elite restaurants operate as well as some great cooking tips and ideas, the vast majority of the book is dull and repetitive. The books is effectively a journal of daily life in the restaurant and the author is probably the only person not to realize that most days in a kitchen (just like at any job) are pretty much the same. Nonetheless, she doesn't hesitate to point out each time a customer order a soup or if (brace yourselves) a table of four decides to order five appetizers.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Star Story
Review: In this delightfully readable book, Leslie Brenner invites the reader into one of New York's finest restaurants, Daniel, then serves up a tale of spice, staples and sauce. As with the nuts beside the martini, I had to have more. Characters and events compelled me to turn the page almost before I'd finished it, and not a single word left a sour taste. Many passages are memorable, none moreso than the incident mentioned on page 134. 'It was April 14, 2001, and Julia Roberts was having a clandestine supper with Ozzie Osbourne. Daniel Boulud came to their table and suggested to Ozzie that he have the 'Seinfeld Special'. Feigning intelligence, Ozzie opened his eyes momentarily and said, "No thanks. I'm a vegetable."
Boulud was bemused. "Don't you mean vegetarian?"
"No he doesn't," Julia said, adjusting his tie and oxygen mask. "But I'll try it. If it's anything like the show, then I'll love it."
"Honey," Ozzie said, drifting in and out of insensibility, "if it's anything like the show, it'll repeat on you at least three times a day for the next fifteen years and in every town and city you visit."
Julia laughed so much that she almost knocked her Oscar off the table. Ozzie slid under it. As lasting friendships go, this one did.' If you enjoy good food, interesting people and wonderful literature, 'The Fourth Star' is an essential experience.
Rating:
Summary: A great companion to Letters to a Young Chef
Review: Such a joy to read. Opening the pages and reading is like opening the kitchen or dining room door at Daniel and working there. I am one of a few fortuneate to have "staged" at Daniel in 1995. Reading the book took me back and opened once agian the intense sense of cooking with Daniel Boulud and Alex Lee. Two of America's Crown Jewles in the Culinary World. The book is written as it should be, honest, insitefull and sometimes brash.
The writer creates a wonderful work from her notes and daily visits to the kitchen and dining room. Only Michael Ruhlman, (6 time author) could have done a better job. Chef Bob Vaningan
Rating:
Summary: A great companion to Letters to a Young Chef
Review: Such a joy to read. Opening the pages and reading is like opening the kitchen or dining room door at Daniel and working there. I am one of a few fortuneate to have "staged" at Daniel in 1995. Reading the book took me back and opened once agian the intense sense of cooking with Daniel Boulud and Alex Lee. Two of America's Crown Jewles in the Culinary World. The book is written as it should be, honest, insitefull and sometimes brash.
The writer creates a wonderful work from her notes and daily visits to the kitchen and dining room. Only Michael Ruhlman, (6 time author) could have done a better job. Chef Bob Vaningan
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been a long article, not a book
Review: This book is a year-long, behind-the-scenes look at a New York restaurant, DANIEL, whose chef/owner, Daniel Boulud, was attempting to re-gain his four-star rating from the New York Times. I read this after watching the series "Restaurant" and it was a good follow-up to the show. They are entirely different restaurants, but had many things in common and it was easy for me to picture the goings on at DANIEL. Brenner covered both the "front of the house" and the area behind the kitchen doors. We met reservationists, the maitre de, Daniel, waiters and bus boys, chefs and line cooks. We learn about VIP seating, wine buying, and much about the backbreaking and stressful jobs involved in running a fine restaurant. The best parts were what I would call the gossipy stuff and the food descriptions. Unfortunately, this book should have been a long article. It was incredibly repetitive and the author's bias toward (adoration of?) Boulud was very distracting.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth buying, better invest in food...
Review: This book should have at the most 100 pages, the writing should have been more concise, deviations are plentiful. It is obvious, the writer tried hard to come up with her 300 pages. Why do I have to read about the travels from the assistant pastry chef? The many repetitions of what's going on in the kitchen, how the service, etc. are organized, are quickly tiresome.
The only good thing: one admires even more the excellent food at Daniel and realizes, that the prices are not high considering what all goes into one single dish.
Rating:
Summary: Our Pate, which Art on Table
Review: This is a book by and for foodies. As such it is filled with a lingo that may require some translation for the uninitiated. Even so, it is both an intriguing tale (how he got the fourth star) even as it contains some of the best behind-the-scenes restaurant action ever written. One grasps the passion, the obsession, the degree to which the performers immerse themselves in every aspect of food from both the "business" end (running a restaurant) and the "artistic" end (selecting, preparing, cooking). Just reading through one of those hectic nights is exhausting but the author seems to have been in the pits with the major players. The outtake vignettes such as the episode on making reservations or on the quirky but faithful customers are sheer joy. And who has not imagined such a dinner as the one that finally concluded the book. Bravo for such an effort as this one!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT BOOK
Review: This is the best book I've read about a restaurant (exept maybe for Kitchen Confidential.) I have worked at a few restaurants like Daniel and this writer really understood the way things really work in a super high-end fine dining establishement.
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