As the Table Turns: Biography of a Bistro (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Lindey's, the legendary bistro in Columbus's historic German Village, has served over half a million meals, welcomed hundreds of thousands of guests, and hosted umpteen parties of every imaginable kind--but it's the unimaginable number of campy servers, fanatical chefs, and infamous regulars whose antics and expectations, like salt and pepper, have created Lindey's inimitable flavor.

As the Tables Turn, is a riotous chronicle of a real-life "Cheers," a neighborhood bar and restaurant opened by a "den mother" from the suburbs without a jot of restaurant experience in a "white elephant" location (so wrote the Columbus Dispatch). But Sue Doody's Lindey's endured the years of "too many chefs"; of too few tables to make ends meet; of waiters "who served more attitude than food"; of zoning nightmares, parking fiascos, cursed equipment failures, and each new manager's valiant innovations (a roving accordionist? peacocks in the courtyard? flaming desserts in a historic landmark with wooden floors?).

Twenty-five years later, Lindey's remains one of the most popular, inventive, and profitable bistros in the nation, the flagship of the Doody family's 60 fine-dining establishments.

Even if you've never dined at Lindey's, these stories could be set at whatever restaurant you frequent. (Surely you have a bartender who sets out your drink even before you've settled onto your stool?)

If you've ever worked in a restaurant, you'll identify with the spectacles and spirited exchanges recounted here. (You'll only wish that you'd have said to the diner asking if you're positive your pot is decaf, "Well, if it's not, I know where you can bowl all night for five bucks.")

If you've ever fancied starting a business, this loose ledger of Lindey's quarter century might persuade you that the time is now--or, perhaps, never. (Can you spot a cook clocking out with a filet mignon wedged between her thighs?)

Every page of As the Tables Turn is a genial communion of splendid food, raised glasses, and convivial souls--all the fixings for a long and long-remembered evening of storytelling and laughter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Orange Frazer Press (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933197285
• ISBN-13: 978-1933197289
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,286,185 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone who eats at Lindeys, January 3, 2007

By	M. Kirtley (Worthington, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you love Lindeys (and who doesn't) this is a fun & must read. The stories are so entertaining and there are even a few recipies thrown in!

5.0 out of 5 stars lindey's, simply the best, January 24, 2007

By	psp (mi, United States) - See all my reviews

if you are from columbus or travel there and have been to lindey's or have worked there lindey's is simply the best. crazy fun and the leader in columbus.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Life "CHEERS" (with a little surreal topping), November 17, 2006

By	2ManyCooks "avid reader, avid cook...just an ... (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

If you loved Bordain's KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL or Buford's HEAT, or if you ever waited tables, dreamed of opening a restaurant, or even had a favorite neighborhood eatery in your life, AS THE TABLES TURN is for you. It's riotious. From knowing absolutely nothing about business or restaurant operations, Sue Doody and her sons opened a bistro in a saloon built before Prohibition that had housed any number of other businesses, including four restaurants in the decade before she opened Lindey's. Twenty-five years after opening, she and author Rosen tell the tales of how the restaurant grew with the help of a crazy crew of servers, neighbors and regulars who acted as if THEY owned the place, and a series of temperamental chefs including more than one who walked out on the busiest Saturday nights of the year.
But instead of being merely a chronicle for people who know Lindey's, it's an oral history, a comedy, a tribute to the unbelievable energy, expense, and accommodation that goes into running a restaurant. Just the chapter titles alone tell a lot: Can We Get You Anything Else to Send Back to the Kitchen Tonight? / Too Many Chefs / Everyone's a Critic (But It's the Rare Guest Who's Being Paid to Complain) / Good Things Come to Those Who Wait Tables.
One of the funniest stories (and OSU graduates, you'll love it), is about the president of the university coming to dinner in the middle of winter. The valet kept brushing the snow off his car...had his car right at the door, warmed up when he left. Great meal, etc. A couple days later, the valet has a cartoon published in the OSU student newspaper with a letter saying that the President stiffed him, after all he did. Long story short, the valet is summarily fired. The next Saturday night, about 8:30, no one can find a valet. As a little protest for the fiing of their buddy, all the valets walked off walk, locking about 100 sets of car keys in the trunk of one of the cars parked among the ten or twelve city blocks where they'd parked the cars.
The book is packed with stories like that. But I guess if you take 46,000 reservations a year, use 260 skillets on a given night, break 1,600 white wine glasses a year, host more than 1000 parties, and even cater a wedding reception at a concert hall where Grand Funk Railroad is playing, you're bound to have great stories.