Synopses & Reviews
Combining an insider's passion with down-to-earth humor, chef and food writer Patric Kuh traces the evolution of American high-style restaurants from the 1941 opening of Le Pavillon to the recent rise of less traditional restaurants, such as Le Cirque, Spago, and Danny Meyer's Union Square group. Kuh takes readers inside this high-stakes business, sharing little-known anecdotes, describing legendary cooks and bright new star chefs, and relating his own reminiscences. Populated by a host of food personalities, including Julia Child, M.F.K. Fisher, and James Beard, Kuh's social and cultural history of America's great restaurants reveals the dramatic transformations in U.S. cuisine.
"If you believe we are what we eat, this is the book that tells you who we are." (The San Diego Union-Tribune) ß
Review
"Essential reading for all serious foodies...The Last Days of Haute Cuisine is an enjoyable trip through our recent restaurant past." Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential
Review
"Chef and food writer Kuh offers an excellent, clear-eyed look at the death of old-fashioned American restaurants (exemplified by Le Pavillon) and the advent of a new kind of eating....This is a thoroughly enjoyable read that imparts plenty of information." Publishers Weekly
Review
"The former 'Burnt-Out Cook' columnist for Salon has produced a clear-eyed look at the evolution of the American Restaurant." San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
Review
"If you believe we are what we eat, this is the book that tells you who we are." The San Diego Union-Tribune
Synopsis
"Essential reading for all serious foodies."--Anthony Bourdain, author of
Kitchen Confidential Combining an insider's passion with down-to-earth humor, chef and food writer Patric Huk traces the evolution of American high-style restaurants from the 1941 opening of Le Pavillon to the recent rise of less traditional restaurants, such as Le Cirque, Spago, and Danny Meyer's Union Square group. Huk takes readers inside this high-stakes business, sharing little-known anecdotes, describing legendary cooks and bright new star chefs, and relating his own reminiscences. Populated by a host of food personalities, including Julia Child, M. F. K. Fisher, and James Beard, Kuh's social and cultural history of America's great restaurants reveals major changes in US cuisine.
"A fascinating and compulsively readable story of the American restaurant and the larger-than-life people who made this the world's most exciting restaurant scene."--Michael Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef
About the Author
Patric Kuh is a Paris-trained chef who has worked in preeminent restaurants in France, New York, and California. He has written for Gourmet, Esquire, and Salon.com and is the author of a novel, An Available Man.
Table of Contents
Charcoal-broiled
First Bite, 7
Boulevard des Italiens, 19
"Luscious Lucius", 25
"The Ambassador in the Sanctuary", 35
Flambeed
"Live Now, Pay Later", 45
Beard and Baum, 53
"We Are Americans", 73
The Last Days of Haute Cuisine, 91
The Formidable Mrs. Child, 97
Grilled
From Perino's to Chez Panisse, 109
Slash, Burn, Filet, 121
Toward California Cuisine, 133
"And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon", 149
Wood-Fired
Pizza Logic, 161
"Che Ti Dice la Patria?", 177
The Man from Montecatini, 187
Restaurant Lights, 211
Selected Bibliography, 231
Index, 235