Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

This delicious new volume of Ruth Reichls acclaimed memoirs recounts her adventures in deception, as she goes undercover in the worlds finest restaurants. Reichl knows that to be a good restaurant critic, you have to be anonymous, but when she signs up to be the most important restaurant critic in the country, at The New York Times, her picture is posted in every four-star, low-star, and no-star kitchen in town. Managers offer cash bonuses for advance notice of her visits. They roll out the red carpet whether she likes it or not. Whats a critic in search of the truth to do? Reichl dons a frumpy blond wig and an off-season beige Armani suit. Then on the advice of a friend, an acting coach with a Pygmalion complex, she begins assembling her new characters backstory.