Garlic And Sapphires : The Secret Life Of A Critic In Disguise

Garlic and Sapphires is as funny and endearing as it is delicious. Reichl uses a perfect blend of wit, anecdote, and recipes to make this a highly entertaining read. Food lovers and food critics alike will enjoy Reichl's rich use of language and brutal honesty when it comes to culinary endeavors.

Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be anonymous when reviewing some of the most high-profile establishments in the biggest restaurant town in the world—a charge she took very seriously, taking on the guise of a series of eccentric personalities. In Garlic and Sapphires, Reichl reveals the comic absurdity, artifice, and excellence to be found in the sumptuously appointed stages of the epicurean world and gives us—along with some of her favorite recipes and reviews—her remarkable reflections on how one’s outer appearance can influence one’s inner character, expectations, and appetites, not to mention the quality of service one receives.

“This wonderful book is funny—at times laugh-out-loud funny—and smart and wise.” —The Washington Post
“Reichl is so gifted . . . the reader remains hungry for more.” —USA Today
“Expansive and funny.” —Entertainment Weekly


Ruth Reichl is the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and the author of the bestsellers Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples. She has been the restaurant critic at the New York Times and the food editor at the Los Angeles Times.

Imprint: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Distributor: Penguin Group USA, Inc
Publication Date: 03-28-2006
Pages: 352
Measurements: 8.44in X 5.60in X 0.79in X 0.69lb