![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
goodreads
Title: Garlic and SapphiresAuthor: Ruth Reichl
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 333
Date read: August, 2010
In Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise Reichl focuses on her life as a food critic, dishing up a feast of fabulous meals enjoyed during her tenure at The New York Times. As a critic, Reichl was determined to review the "true" nature of each restaurant she visited, so she often dined incognito--each chapter of her book highlights a new disguise, a different restaurant (including the original reviews from the Times), and a fresh culinary adventure.
One of the best foodie books I've read in a long time - even if I did get ridiculously hungry for good food while reading it. I do NOT recommend reading a couple of chapters and then going out to heat up left-overs :-/
The stories of a restaurant critic were fascinating to read, and the way she went about creating new characters as not to be recognized had me in stitches. I really enjoyed Ruth Reichl's writing style, and also liked the way she portrayed herself in this memoir - not arrogantly, but aware of her own mistakes and shortcomings.
Really brilliant book, even if it is perhaps a tad too old to be used as an accurate restaurant guide for NYC - more's the pity, as I'd have loved to try some of the restaurants she visited!
