Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out [Hardcover]

Steven A. Shaw (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shaw, known in Internet food circles as the Fat Guy, and founder of the culinary Web site eGullet.org, offers a sort of Kitchen Confidential from the perspective of an average Joe (albeit a pretty swift one). He goes inside the kitchens of venerable New York establishments like Gramercy Tavern and Lespinasse, visits a Connecticut hot dog shack and a North Carolina BBQ joint. But while Anthony Bourdain is interested in telling readers why they should avoid eggs Benedict at all costs, Shaw takes more of a glass-half-full approach. He hangs out with a "reservationist" at the posh New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park, so he can learn how to snag a reservation at the last minute ("polite but confident persistence" is key). He advises readers to take the information in guides like Zagat's and restaurant reviews with a grain of salt: remember, they're just opinions. He also urges readers to pay attention to where food comes from and to try new things. A mixed bag of advice, insider information and soapboxing (on everything from organic food and "authentic cuisine" to restaurant critics), this opinionated diner's tour is sure to appeal to chowhounds in general and New Yorkers in particular.
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Review

“Pure crack for foodies.” (Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential )

“Penetrating...decodes the secrets of the food world....A delicious read for restaurant goers.” (Library Journal )

“Steven Shaw tells you how to get exceptional service every time.” (Newsweek )

“...this opinionated diner’s tour is sure to appeal to chowhounds in general and New Yorkers in particular.” (Publishers Weekly )

“...sound, neighborly advice on getting reservations...briskly tough.” (The New Yorker )

“Shaw dissects everything from reservation systems...to restaurant reviews and the intricate path your food takes to the table.” (Fortune )

“...interesting and useful...Shaw shows how it all comes together at several restaurants.” (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World )

“[The] Fat Guy makes his case....Turning the Tables is a well-rounded work by a well-rounded guy.” (Boston Globe )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; First Edition edition (August 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060737808
• ISBN-13: 978-0060737801
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,546,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed, February 15, 2007

By 

GadgetChick - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out (Hardcover)

I picked up a bargain copy of this at a bookstore and was glad I hadn't paid full price for it. The topic is interesting to me as I love eating at fine-dining restaurants, but this book was not a worthwhile exploration of that topic. I was hoping for the kind of insider scoop on restaurant operations you get from, say, Anthony Bourdain's books. Instead, this is all about how you, the lowly restaurant-going peasant, should suck up to hosts, waiters and chefs because what they do is soooo cool and you are soooo not worthy of their time and effort. I kept thinking of the term "scenester" when I read this - someone who is so interested in getting into the "hot" place du jour that they'll do anything short of humiliating themselves to get inside. The whole tone of the book is fawning towards chefs and restaurant owners/personnel and there's not really a lot of "insider" information here that you couldn't figure out for yourself. And the book is overcomplimentary towards restaurant people in the extreme. Shaw's book makes it seem like if a restaurant treats a customer poorly, it's obviously the customer's fault because fine restaurants run by celebrated chefs are pinnacles of perfection and couldn't possibly do anything wrong. It seemed to me like Shaw mainly wrote this book to give props to his chef friends and get accolades from people in the business for writing a book that made them look so good, and therefore get nsider access to even more chefs/restaurateurs (and free gourmet meals, of course). I don't think there was an honest intention here to give any kind of real "inside" story.

I agree with the reviewer who said this book is a lot like the discourse you'll find on eGullet, pretentious and self-righteously obsessed with details the average person could care less about. I couldn't even finish reading this. Another book for the charity pile, although frankly I feel bad about inflicting this on anyone else.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Turning The Tables Review, October 28, 2005

By 

Jim Asker "Jim A" (Nashville) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out (Hardcover)

There were aspects of the book that I enjoyed- the writer has a great knowledge of the food and restaurant industry. Some of his tales were interesting-

The reading was really bogged down for me by the writer's almost "groupie" sense of being impressed that he can hang with great chefs. It seemed almost jouvenile to me-

He definitely takes the side of the industry and looks at customers with a good amount of disdain. To me it was hard to get through the book because the guy kept referring to his own relationships with people in the industry-

Also, he thinks that critics should not be anonymous- that to me is ridiculous in its own- how can you write an honest review of a establishment, if you were out eating salami sandwiches with the chef earlier that afternoon-

In my opinion the writer really gets off on rubbing elbows with restaurant elite-

Because he kept getting bogged down with being impressedm with himself, getting reservations at tough restaurants, etc., a lot of the material was hard to get through.

He also seems jealous of real writers and has to take a lot of shots at them-

Next time I see his name on a book cover- I'll skip it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 4% is worth reading, October 29, 2007

By 

Stephen Magee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out (Hardcover)

What a huge disappointment. Shaw provides some brief insight into to evolution of fusion cuisine, the benefits of becoming a "regular" and the decline of the french restaurant in America. Beyond that - it's self aggrandizing drivel. Give me a break. In an ironic twist, this volume of meaningless blathering reinforces Shaw's own suggestion that the restaurant reviewer's role in the dining equation is overrated.