NetGalley ARC | Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I LOVE books about working in restaurants. There's this whole world we never see when we dine out, even though it is right there in our faces the whole time if we know what to look for. It also fascinates me because it is a job I could never do. I am not a people-person and would never have the patience. That's also why I always tip at least 30% because I can't imagine a worse job. Yet I am still drawn to books about that job because it is a whole world of its own.

It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the misogyny is as common in the food industry as it is in literally every other aspect of our every day lives. But that's not all this book is about. It's about being drawn into a world you had once never considered but grew to love, only to find it rejected you time and time again - and the personal growth (and stumbles) that come with that kind of pain.

The author truly started her career in the food industry after graduating from Emerson with an MFA. She'd previously worked in a pub in her home town between undergrad and grad school when she was still not sure which direction her life should go. But the industry would not let her go and after Emerson she threw herself right back into the fray.

This was the era of the so-called "bad boy" chefs. Personally, none of that era ever appealed to me, this explosion of celebrity chefs and cooking shows. I don't enjoy shows about restaurants and cooking. I don't like to cook, it's not fun to me, I don't want to see the food prepared. I am much more interested in the culture of restaurants. But people were willing to accept the volatile personalities because it made for good television; why wouldn't a chef be a total psycho? But the thing that always gives me pause is, if those chefs were willing to show the world that side of themselves on film, how much worse was it when the cameras weren't rolling?

Selinger had many roles throughout her time in the industry. She began as a server at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. She didn't even last two months on the job, but she quickly moved on to another, and another, and another. The author began the journey to becoming a certified sommelier (something else I am SO OBSESSED with) and would reach the pinacle of her career as the beverage director for David Chang and Momofuku.

Along the way, there were many ups and downs. Selinger learns the difference between fine dining and fine fine dining, has to decide if reporting thieving managers is worth the risk, and tries to figure out why she stays in an industry for so long that tries to break her, over and over.

At times, it is almost painful to read. Selinger was drawn to the food industry after that stint between Columbia and Emerson. She's not an idiot, and she KNOWS how terrible it becomes for her. How stressful it is to be on eggshells all the time, never knowing when the boss might make an example of her.

And yet, she stayed. For years. Exactly why she did so is something the author explores, and there are quite a few times where she realizes it's time to go, but then decides to stay. Just one more job.

I loved the breeziness of the book, despite it covering such serious issues within the food industry. It felt like having a conversation with a friend who keeps going back to a who you know is no good for her, SHE knows is no good for her, yet nothing changes.

At the end of each chapter, the author includes a recipe that fits the content and theme of said chapter. Someone who is much better in the kitchen than I can attempt them though, as I have no skill in that department.

I also loved the fact that she named names. She lays bare the chefs on powertrips with out of control egos, because they found the magic key of making extraordinary dishes that were as beautiful to look at as they were delicious to eat. I had to Google a couple of the names, but many you will recognize if you were awake in the early 2000s to be bombarded by this era of chefs - Bobby Flay, David Chang, Johnny Iuzzini. Big surprise that so many from that time have been outed for their disgusting behaviors becuase they thought they were untouchable.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Gilded Age Cocktails: History, Lore, and Recipes from America's Golden Age

 

I received a free digital ARC from NYU Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

First let's take a moment and admire that cover, shall we? So simple and elegant, but very powerful. I don't even like martinis and the moment I saw this one I thought, "Sure why not?"

This gem of a book makes me want to through a Gilded Age themed dinner party and serve each and every one of these delicious treats. I can't of course, because of COVID, but some day, right? We can dream at least.

The books is divided into sections that touch on various aspects of life/society of the time, and the many drinks that went along with them. My personal favorite was the section related to signature drinks of the Ivy League schools. You don't have to go to an elite East Coats school to drink like it, as the recipes for each drink discussed is produced here for the reader.

One thing I really loved about this book was the history - big surprise. I thought it was so fascinating how the various drinks came to made, how bartenders' experimented with their craft in order to come up with new drinks to satisfy patrons. Seeing the evolution or creation of so many of the drinks we know and (sometimes) love today - such as the Manhattan - was a fun bit of history to read about.

I really love books like this, that focus on a specific micro history and encourage anyone with similar interests to give this one a read. You might just find a new favorite drink!

Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's King of Beer

Rating: 4 Stars

Well color me shocked that once again, wealth does not equal happiness. Or common sense. And any kind of personal management skills.

I loved Budweiser - Bud heavy, NOT Bud Light. When I was in college, that is what was flowing from the kegs and I drank many a free red Solo cups worth of the delicious liquid - until I turned 21 and then it was off to the bars downtown, conveniently just a couple blocks from campus. So, when I saw this book for sale, I knew it would be something I needed to read. I really enjoy these kind of micro-histories, and this is kind of three micro-histories in one. We get the history of the Busch family, the city of STL, and the company as well. The three go together and there's no way to tell one history without the other two, there simply isn't.

So, I was quite pleased to find it was a book I actually enjoyed. This is the first I have read about the Busch family, but from what I know and further researched as I was reading and when I finished the book, things seem to be accurate for the most part. I did notice a few reviewers make note of incorrect names, but otherwise I did not find anything else that was cause for concern.

This story is just as intriguing as any other family coming up in this time, making their fortunes like the robber barons we are so familiar with. It truly boggles the mind when one thinks about the wealth these families possessed, in the days before that pesky little thing called income tax.

My only real complaint about the book has less to do with the words and more to do with the photos included. I would have found it extremely helpful if the photos of the various generations of Busch men would have been scattered throughout the sections most having to do with them. Instead the photos were at the end and it took me a bit to figure out who was who, given the fact that everyone was named August or Adolphus. In the grand scheme of things, however, this was a minor issue and nothing a quick Google search could not solve instead of having to go back and forth throughout the text. This is one of my frustrations with Kindles, but alas, there's not much I can do about it.

This story truly is a remarkable one and I was especially interested in the parts that dealt with how the growing company survived during Prohibition. To see how the company survived and thrived makes the downfall that much harder to see. The men who built the company and made it what it became at its height...only to see that sense of the family business gone with the stroke of a pen when InBev took over in 2008. It also bums me out when businesses, even ones that have grown as large as Anheuser-Busch did - lose that sense of hometown feel, if that makes sense. However dysfunctional or downright ridiculous some members of the family might have been, or still are (I'm lookin' at you, August IV...), there was still that sense of family, and ownership (or, that they were able to keep that sense of family appearance, even when things behind the scenes were falling apart, relationship-wise). Now Anheuser-Busch is just another facet of a huge conglomerate and within days of the takeover, some 1000-1400 workers were laid off. While the author is brutally honest (with a possible bias against the family, though I personally did not see it - maybe because I have not read as much about the Busch dynasty yet?) about all the problems within the family, he also makes it very clear that InBev is all about the money; quality of product is secondary at this point. But hey, as long as the rich get richer though, right?

The unfortunate truth here though is that the company didn't have to be sold. At various times throughout it's long and storied history, Anheuser-Busch was run by intelligent, forward-thinking CEOs who continued to build on the foundation put down over a century ago. Yet the problem with inheriting something so important is that sometimes one simply thinks they're entitled to it, while doing nothing to prove they have the capabilities required to maintain the business. Perhaps had August IV not been allowed so many indulgences (and by indulgences I mean all the cover-ups for deaths and drugs. You know, usual kid stuff), he would still be at the helm today. My sympathy does not lie with him, so much as it does those who came before him, and built the company into the prize it became. Even so, it is a shame to see the company no longer in the hands of the family who created it. I can only imagine some of those men absolutely rolling in their graves with what befell the company with the Fourth leading the way, when InBev came in and was able so easily to takeover the company.

I'd like to touch on the point again of the suggested bias of the author against the family. I noticed this in a review I read before I picked up the book (I know, I know, reading reviews beforehand is a terrible idea). I didn't really get that impression at all, but as I was writing this review I decided to go back and see if other reviewers touched on this and more than a couple mentioned it. I am definitely interested then in reading other books about the Busch family to compare author treatment of the subject. Perhaps I don't see it because I don't know anything but what I have read here. My personal opinion was that some of these CEOs were pretty awful people (this time I'm looking at you, Busch III. Tossing your dad out of the business was low, any way you look at it. And as always, there's IV, who is lucky to still be alive at this point, given the multitudes of guns and drugs he seems to hoard). So, it makes sense that the 'warts and all' approach was used. Nothing is held back. We see time and again how the family was able to cover up so many things that would have become huge scandals - something that's not even an issue now that the company is out of the family's control. Busch IV is free to be as out of control as he wants and it no longer has the potential to impact the bottom line.

There were enough comments about a bias that I will be looking for further reading materials. Even so, I still highly recommend this look at the true rise and fall of one of the great American companies.

Goodnight Brew: A Parody for Beer People

Rating: 4 Stars

For the record, I am not actually a 'beer person' anymore, especially now that I have a child - nor was I ever really. I was much more a Whiskey Girl.

My favorite museum here has been running the exhibit "American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" that ends on the 29th of January. It is fantastic and has a lot of neat, interactive pieces that tell both points of view. Luckily, our museum also always has a bomb collection of books in relation to the traveling exhibits and this was one of the treasures I snagged today (half off too, since the books and other items get discounted in the final weeks of the exhibit). Not only was this a cute, adult parody of my beloved 'Goodnight Moon', but the last pages included some 'brew basics' and a section dedicated to the differences between lagers and ales. Worth the $8.