Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best of the Month, September 2008: The eccentric and engaging food-lit manifesto, Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin, collects the wisdom, rants, and recipes of New York's most legendarily cranky, publicity-hating short-order cook. The foul-mouthed genius of Kenny Shopsin has been captured before, most notably in Calvin Trillin's wonderful New Yorker profile and the documentary I Like Killing Flies, but Eat Me gives a from-the-cook's-mouth take on life behind the counter, with the layout of a quirky, illustrated textbook. Chapter titles like "Selling Water, or the Secret of the Restaurant Business" and "The Story of Shopsin's Turkey, or Why I Hate the Health Department" should give you a taste of what's in store. Formerly located in Greenwich Village, Shopin's now sets up camp at Stall No. 16 at the Essex Street Market, where you'll find dozens of soups, sandwiches, burgers, milk shakes, breakfast plates, and pancakes (from Plain to White Mint Chocolate Chip), along with original comfort-food classics like Blisters on My Sisters (tortillas, cheese, fried eggs, beans, and rice), gracing the crammed 900-item menu. Getting tossed out of Shopsin's (for whatever offense) has taken on badge-of-honor status among diners--the culinary equivalent of being on the business end of a Don Rickles zinger. Reading Eat Me feels like the next best thing. --Brad Thomas Parsons

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Kenny Shopsin hates publicity the way a magnet must hate metal filings. With a documentary, a New Yorker profile and several New York Times articles clinging to him, this supposedly reluctant restaurateur now adds to his own troubles by releasing a totally hilarious and surprisingly touching treatise on cooking, customer loyalty and family bonds. As his brood grew to include five kids, his Manhattan eatery shrunk in size, yet maintained its idiosyncratic 900-item menu (reproduced here in a 12-page spread). Recipes for more than 100 of the offerings are presented, including Mac n Cheese Pancakes and Blisters on My Sisters (sunny-side-up eggs placed atop tortillas and a rice and bean concoction). But the real treat is Shopsin's salty philosophizing. Sure, pancakes are tasty, but he reminds us that, They are flour and milk drowned in butter and some form of sugar. They're crap. And the customer is always wrong until they show me they are worth cultivating as customers. Two such well-cultivated customers were the writer Calvin Trillin and his wife, Alice. They pop up throughout the book, providing not only happy reminiscences, but a roux of poignancy as both Shopsin and Trillin become widowers, bonded together over the love of a decent meal, quickly rendered. (Sept.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307264939
• ISBN-13: 978-0307264930
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,912 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not your mom's cookbook., September 28, 2008

By	Ben Nacorda (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the first cook book I've ever read where I sat down and read it cover to cover first. The musings in this book is worth every page and makes for an engaging read. The book arrived at my house on Thursday and I basically spent all weekend trying out a bunch of the recipes. So far: Patsy's Cashew Chicken (a new household favorite but mixed hoisin sauce, water and soy sauce instead though), Slutty Pancakes, Glazed Pancakes, Tahini Dressing, Coconut rice (never thought leftover rice can taste so good), Crepes (amazing approach and he's right, no once can tell the difference). The recipes are elegantly simple and does not require a culinary degree nor a translator when you go shopping for the ingredients. In fact, most of the stuff is probably already in your pantry. Kenny Shopsin has a distinctive point of view and will leave you wanting to visit NYC just so you can eat at his restaurant and hear his philosophy in person. Be careful you don't get thrown out though...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read for the stories, keep for the recipes..., May 6, 2009

By	H. Grove "owling6683" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Eat Me and Kenny Shopsin's take on the world are definitely not for everyone, just as his restaurant was not for everyone. One reader I spoke with found Kenny's attitude closed-minded and offensive; I had an easier time being amused at the raucous tales and strong personality, but I could see the person's point. It'll definitely be a reader-dependent thing.

Kenny tells tales of everything from his kids' childhoods to famous customers to the sexual nature of some foods. His stories of the friendships he's made and the business agreements he's come to had me laughing out loud.

The recipes are equally fantastic, and even that reader I know who didn't like Kenny's attitude loved the food. Kenny liked to keep as many dishes on the menu as possible, while keeping his kitchen as simple as possible and making every dish when it was ordered--rather than making a handful of things ahead and keeping them under heat lamps. He achieved this by constructing many variations upon themes from simple components. When fresh ingredients achieve the best results, he uses them. When a purchased mix or product will do just as well, he isn't shy to say so.

I have to agree that he's found an amazing balance between speed, ease, and taste. I frankly wasn't sure about an egg recipe called the Fellini, made with tomato, garlic bread, and ricotta, but it blew me away when we made it. Alchemy! His suggestions for making stock seemed odd (a blend of traditional stock-making methods and including some of a commercial concentrate), yet it really does produce an end result that's better than either of those methods alone. His cream of tomato soup, made with marinara sauce as a base(!) is to die for, and easy enough to knock out on a busy work night!

If you're easily offended, avoid the commentary and stories. If you can't stand strong language, avoid the book altogether. But if you're looking for a hilarious memoir and/or a wonderful cookbook of easy, delicious foods, Eat Me is a fantastic investment!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different, February 7, 2009

By	flotsam (usa) - See all my reviews

It is an outstanding book about one's life, real, honest, funny and sometimes sad. What makes it outstanding? A reader does not just get a recipe, but every recipe has its own story, how and why it was born. Tales about family, friends and other people are woven in those recipes. Intelligence and creativity of the author are so appealing; food is so unordinary, that it is impossible to put the book down until you read the last page.
Besides remarkable content, couple of words should be told about design. The jacket is amazing for eyes and for hands; I immediately wanted to open and start to read it. Pages are full with images that make stories almost animated. I think the book is a very good present either to cooking addicts or to those who are scared to cook.
P.S. I hope that if one day I will be lucky to have a lunch at Shopsin's place, they will be kind enough to serve me Reuben burger WITHOUT BUTTER, please:))