Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter (Phoebe Damrosch)
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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Phoebe Damrosch’s Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter introduced me to a world I didn’t know. Forget the eavesdropping. This isn’t a juicy, tell-all, he said/she said-over-the-salad book. It is the true story of her experience as a waiter in one of Manhattan’s finest restaurants. I must admit I don’t eat in many restaurants of this caliber but, as a travel writer, I certainly have visited some fine establishments. Thanks to this book, I’ll never look at the service in the same way. Damrosch brings life and color to a rigorous occupation and elucidates elegancies of service that, when done correctly, go un-noticed. The hierarchy from busboys to backservers to captains to maitre d’ to chef receives attention and appreciation. And, in and around her job, Damrosch shares a little of her life and loves.
Interspersed in the story is a wealth of information about food, wine and even etiquette. At the end of each chapter, she includes a tip for diners. Some of them are obvious — like “Don’t send something back after eating most of it.” Others were new to me — and I discovered my own faux pas — “Do not pick up your glass when a waiter or sommelier is about to pour something for you. It makes you seem greedy and oblivious.” That’s me — oblivious.
And all this time I’ve been fumbling around the foody foothills, and I haven’t even been to the mountain! There’s obviously a whole layer of ingredients and techniques I’d never heard of. Not sure I’m anxious to try cockscomb. Some of the items were a little too adventuresome for me. Still, this book provided a banquet of information and would make great reading over a bowl of beenie weenie or beouf Bourguignon. Three stars. Harper Collins, 2007