By Stefanie Gans, Allison Michelli and Ariel Yong
When the Food Desk isn’t writing about food, we’re reading about it. Here are three of the most recent food-inspired memoirs we’ve finished laying on beds and beaches.
“Born Round: A Story of Family, Food, and a Ferocious Appetite”
by Frank Bruni
This book pairs well with some Chinese takeout. In his third book, “Born Round,” Frank Bruni takes readers on an honest ride as he describes growing up with a love-hate relationship with food and eventually his experience as the New York Times’ restaurant critic. Although there are a handful of Chinese delivery discussions in the book, Bruni’s fixation with his Grandma Bruni’s frits, his mother’s chicken divan and other family recipes result in lengthy descriptions about delicious dishes that are sure to make the stomach growl. His love for his big family—parents, three siblings, grandparents, and future nieces and nephews—is obvious in his writing, as are his passion and obsession for food. His grandmother provides the title for the book with her motto: Born round, you don’t die square.
He opens up about his struggle with bulimia, detailing various diets and weight-loss strategies he employed over the years and how they affected his relationship with family members, friends and eventually, his partners. His travels to Europe and experience in covering politics are enlightening, but the best part of the book is when he accepts the restaurant critic position at the New York Times. His stories about maintaining anonymity in restaurants are hilarious, especially when he explains the few times restaurants figured out who he was and the extent to which he tried to disguise himself. Bruni loves writing as much as he loves eating, and this novel is a testament to that. (Penguin Press HC, 2009) —AY
“Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise”
by Ruth Reichl
Peeling away the mystique of the life of a restaurant critic, the reader comes to find that the job isn’t always as glamorous as one perceives it to be. In “Garlic and Sapphires” we follow Ruth Reichl through her everyday life as the New York Times restaurant critic (1993-1999) and the eccentric cast of characters she portrays on her dining adventures, like Miriam, a carbon copy of her mother and Chloe, a confident and sexy blonde bombshell. Anonymity is essential to being a food critic, especially in big cities like New York and Reichl is willing to wear any wig to get the job done.
Reichl successfully delivers a piece that is full of personality and insight on every page. Each chapter concludes with a favorite recipe of Reichls’, most notably risotto primavera and spaghetti carbonara, and a full-length restaurant review. These brief respites from the narrative made for a fun read, never failing to ignite a voracious appetite. My favorite quotation from the book, “Every restaurant is a theatre, and the truly great ones allow us to indulge in the fantasy that we are rich and powerful,” reminds us that good food is a luxury and one that deserves to be celebrated. (Penguin Books, 2006) —AM
“Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs In and Out of the Kitchen”
by Alyssa Shelasky
I have a secret to share. And I’m going to tell you because author Alyssa Shelasky does not. In her first book, based on the blog of the same name, Shelasky chronicles her life through food, first as an eater from her mom’s simple, but still forward-thinking meals (quoina before its ubiquity), then as a young New York girl dining at high-end restaurants, and finally as a freelance writer, who shacks up with a semi-famous chef and is left to cook all day and feed her boyfriend when he returns from his 20-hour shifts at midnight. This is where the secret comes in.
Shelasky barely disguises her chef-lover, and if you’re a regional food fan, you can figure it out pretty quickly (or take to Google). She dates Spike Mendelsohn, the “Top Chef” contestant who owns We the Pizza and Good Stuff Eatery, with locations in both Rosslyn and Washington, D.C.
The pages fly as we comb through Shelasky’s dating life and food revelations, as she deals with love and heartache by concocting elaborate meals on both coasts. It is a fun read, as much about boys and best friends as it is about her mom’s pasta. Although, the bashing of her time living in Capitol Hill becomes tiresome. We get it. Manhattan rules.
In the realm of food memoirs, if Gabrielle Hamilton‘s James Beard award-winning “Blood, Bones and Butter” is a steak dinner, “Apron Anxiety” is a pub burger, still delicious but not as sophisticated or deeply satisfying. (Three Rivers Press, 2012)—SG
