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

A true delight for a food lover to read

This book is less autobiographical than Reichl's other two books, 'Tender at the Bone' and 'Comfort me with apples.' Nonetheless, this book is a great read and hilarious. Reichl talks about moving from being the restaraunt critic for the LA Times to the NY Times. It is great to read about how she dresses up and goes undercover t o see how regular, non-rich people get treated at restaraunts. Great stories and pleasant to read beacuse Reichl has the gift of sounding like your friend and that she is right there telling you what happened to her today.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Must Read for all Food Lovers

Ruth Reichl takes us through her days as a New York Times Food Critic and the huge task before her -- reviewing restaurants fairly and for the masses, not just the uber rich. Through her reviews she gives everyone a unique and highly descriptive view of the restaurant as a whole from ambiance down to each morsel of food. She makes you feel as if you are right there with her experiencing everything.

I especially loved how she created all of her aliases to be able to slip into each restaurant covertly. It was also very enlightening and touching to read how each alias brought out hidden depths of her personality. It allowed her to dig deeper than ever, and understand herself better and realize that really wanted to be. It's an experience that I think so may people wish they could have.

I have read everything Ruth Reichl has written and this is the best!

I talk about this book to others and give copies as gifts. I will bring it to work and have people read certain parts that I loved. I could never express my love of food like Ruth so it is very fun to read her expressions, she is a great wrtier and the reading flows.

Sad when it was over

I've thoroughly enjoyed all the Ruth Reichl books I've read. She is honest and forthcoming about her experiences, sometimes not at all pleasant, as a restaurant critic. She's also refreshingly honest about herself, and the things she sometimes sees about herself that she is not so proud of, or happy about.
As a mom, I can appreciate the balance between her job as a critic and her job as a mother.
As a wannabe foodie, I especially enjoyed her detailed descriptions of the meals she ate and the experiences she had at the different restaurants.
I think her writing is very engaging and it just draws you into her life. She seems like she would be a delightful friend to have, and I was sad to reach the end. As a matter of fact, it's been hard to start another book since then.

Fun Food Insight

This brought a little gourmet into my not so gourmet existence with some added insight into human character. Fun and fast read.

a read for all those that love food.

this is the 3rd of a series of 4 books. I read this 1st. It was a good way to proceed with the other books. Reading should make you smile. Reading gives you pleasure. The facts of the book are true and facts of life here are ture as we all know it. I enjoyed this more that the 1st two, howevet I own book 1, 2, and 3 and it's a keeper....waiting for #4 to come out in paper back.

Fun read!

I had just finished some intense books and wanted to read a more light hearted book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book on many levels as it was original, funny, insightful and especially delicious!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting and Funny

Ruth Reichl's writing of her experiences as the New York Times food critic are hilariously funny and depict New York as the difficult place to live, work and survive that it truly is. The book's descriptions make you hungry both for the food at the restaurants she visits and for more reviews/experiences from the author.

Great for any foodie

Garlic and Sapphires was a very entertaining book. I found my mouth watering sometimes at the descriptions of some of the dishes she reviewed. I loved that she included recipes in this book as well. I recommend this book to anyone who loves food.

Worth buying

Garlic and Sapphires is a lovely read. And funny too.

A reviewer

What a fun book to read. You're immediately pulled into the world of Ruth, the food critic and Ruth the person. It was a fun place to be. Fast reading. Ruth also share some recipes as a bonus! Loved this book.

A delicious romp through NYC's finest (and not so finest) restaurants

For anyone who loves food, or just a fun read, this book gives insight to the life of what one would think is the world's greatest job - the food critic for the NY Times. Reichl lets us glimpse into the world as she experiences the best and the worse of NY dining, sometimes at the same restaurant! In addition to exploring the great food, the readers also gets to know Ruth, her family & friends and her various sercret personas - all good characters. The great irony is that I read this book on a plane... It was torture to read about the brasied short ribs, perfect has browns, juicy steaks and then look up at my airplane food. Other than that, a great read.

Eating for a Living

Who doesn't dream of being someone different every now and then? In Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth Reichl shares her forays into the world of alter egos as she strives for anonymity while preparing restaurant reviews for The New York Times. She uses a diverse array of disguises, and creates stories and personalities for each one. Her alter egos allowed her to get an 'everyman' experience at a restaurant instead of the red-carpet treatment, and she wrote her reviews accordingly. Also refreshing was her introduction of a wider variety of ethnic restaurants into the vaunted Times reviews. Each section packages up a restaurant and a persona along with some personal insights. I thought this book would probably be interesting, but I had no idea I would have such a hard time putting it down. Reichl's writing is humorous and flows well. Her food descriptions are vivid and truly mouth-watering. She really captures not just the food, but also the essence of the dining experience. Meals are not just fuel for the body they also feed the soul. An entertaining and easy read, Reichl leaves you hungry for seconds.

Delightfully Enjoyable!

Loved Tender At The Bone, thought Comfort Me With Apples was alright, but this newest book has left me speachless in parts. If it is being herself or one of her many personae, it is like I am sharing the adventure of her going to the restaurants and enjoying the pleasures or unpleasures she experiences. Wonderful addition of the columns and recipes, plus the people she shares the experiences and the people she meets are extroidinary. Gotta love the melting pot that is New York. With the most memorable restaurants, I would give my eye teeth to taste some of those delifghtful dishes.

Loved this book

A must for anyone who works in the restaurant business. I'm going to buy it for my daughter who is graduating from college. My husband and I ate at Sparks and it was wonderful but it appears we went AFTER her review - I'm so glad her view moved them to Spark it up a bit I laughed, I laughed out loud - on the bus no less and you will too!

Disappointing

I've read Tender at the Bone and should have learned from it, but I bought the hype and picked up this book. All I can say is 'ho hum'. The facts behind the book would seem to promise an entertaining read, however other than the restaurant reviews that accompany the narrative, the book is boring on the whole. For true fans of Ruth R. only.

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Behind-the-Scenes Delight

Reichl gives us a peek behind the scenes of both the upper-crust New York restaurant world and the New York Times, and it's truly fascinating. This book was addictive.

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