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Book Review of Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter

Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter
reviewed on + 296 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4


Not at all what I expected from the title - I'd just read some tell-all confidentials of kitchens and airlines and put too much weight on the term "eavesdropping", I think - but a very interesting read. This actually tells the story of Phoebe Damrosch as she learns four star service at Thomas Keller's New York restaurant Per Se. From the back: "Service Included is the story of her obsession with food, her love affair with a sommelier, and her amusing, eye-opening, and sometimes shocking experiences in the fascinating, frenetic, highly competetive world of fine dining." She adds in some post-chapter tips on how to behave in a restaurant that I hope are too obvious to be of use, but they may be very appropriate considering some of the customer antics that do make it into the book.