Garlic and Sapphires

The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

By: Ruth Reichl

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Garlic and Sapphires is Ruth Reichl's riotous account of the many disguises she employs to dine anonymously. There is her stint as Molly Hollis, a frumpy blond with manicured nails and an off-beige Armani suit that Ruth takes on when reviewing Le Cirque. The result: her famous double review of the restaurant: First she ate there as Molly; and then as she was coddled and pampered on her visit there as Ruth, New York Times food critic.

What is even more remarkable about Reichl's spy games is that as she takes on these various disguises, she finds herself changed not just superficially, but in character as well. She gives a remarkable account of how one's outer appearance can very much influence one's inner character, expectations, and appetites.

As she writes, "Every restaurant is a theater...even the modest restaurants offer the opportunity to become someone else, at least for a little while." Garlic and Sapphires is a reflection on personal identity and role playing in the decadent, epicurean theaters of the restaurant world.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2005 Ruth Reichl (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This wonderful book is funny - at times laugh-out-loud funny - and smart and wise." (The Washington Post)

"Reichl is so gifted...the reader remains hungry for more." (USA Today)

"Expansive and funny." (Entertainment Weekly)

Excellent Book & Narrator

This book is a wonderful, insider's romp through culinary New York with someone who obviously loves food, people and writing.

However, this book is not just about the staff at trendy restaurants and how Ruth manages to fool them all in her myriad get-ups. Reichl possesses a sly humor that is at once critical and compassionate. Reichl considers the snap judgments made by those staffers, and by people in general, and the effects of making assumptions, and basing the treatment of others on mere appearance. She has the courage to share with the reader/listener HER reactions to the characters she creates and how inhabiting them changes her, for better and worse.

Nonsensical Chapter Divisions

There’s no sense whatsoever to the “chapters” indicated in this audiobook. They certainly can’t be following the actual chapters in the book, as they break paragraphs. Annoying when you are trying to use the timer.

Delicious!

Loved this! Beautifully written, well read, and very entertaining. Perfect for anyone who loves to cook, eat, or is interested in the New York City restaurant scene. Highly recommended.

Fantastic!

One of my favorite books! I read the paper version years ago and loved it. This audio book lived up to my expectations. It hits all of my buttons .

Laugh Out Loud Funny and Cringe Worthy

Laugh Out Loud Funny and Cringe Worthy stories, sometimes cat the very same time. You are shown glimpses into the best of the world and the worst. Her day traveling around NY to all the best butchers and bakers and candle makers was one of the highlights.

Excellent Couldn’t Stop!

On a recent visit to SC to visit a cousin who likes to cook told me -actually raved about all of this authors books. In a borderline obsession kind of way she told me she had all of her books and she even drove to Savannah to have the author sign her book, showing me the author’s signature on her hardcover copy of “Garlic and Sapphires.” I was both skeptical and curious so on my long ride home to Florida with my 85-year-old mother, I downloaded this book on audible. It was all that and more. I can’t wait to hear all of her other books!

Super entertaining and insightful

I couldn't stop listening. I loved hearing about New York and the Times, reflecting about how 20+ years after this story was written Ruth's experience and NYT food are still relevant.

Do Clothes Make the Woman or You Are What You Eat

This book grabbed me, waltzed me around the floor and then deposited me dizzy and hungry in a chair next to banquet! You have a great reader who takes you along on a ride that answers the question, "What would it be like to be the NYTimes Restaurant Reviewer?" The getups that Ruth devised to go unnoticed or at least unrecognized had me howling and I found that I had visualized the friends that she brought along to complete her story. I loved when her son learned to make hash browns or cakes, I hated the previous critic for his actions and I rode shotgun when she went on a food tour of New York. I could even understand as she starts to question her place on the (forgive me) food chain. I have enjoyed Ruth's other books, but this one really lightened up my life a little and I think that I started to eat a little better too, because who can have a bag of micro popcorn after hearing her description of a dinner at a four-star restaurant!

So Very Entertaining--Just Perfection!

I absolutely loved everything about this audiobook. Ruth Reichl, a former New York Times restaurant critic, takes us on a tour of the high end (mostly) restaurant industry in NY City. She is a wonderful writer, amusing, honest, downright humorous, and very open about her description of what this coveted job entailed. Perhaps the best part was her acquisition and use of costumes to prevent the restaurant owners from knowing her identity. So funny, and also a bit sad, as she showed us something we may have already suspected, the poorer treatment or even mistreatment of elderly women and the less financially well-off appearing folks of any age.

I loved the author's stories and descriptions of her food adventures. I loved the narrator, Bernadette Dunne. I thought she was the author reading throughout most of the book. She was perfect. I also loved hearing about the author's son and husband, who occasionally accompanied her on her work outings as her dinner guests. Good people! In addition and perhaps most fascinating of all was how the author's behavior, reception by others, and even her personality changed with each different disguise. Amazing and unexpected--it makes me want to acquire my own disguises and go out dining!

If you are interested or curious about the job of the most important food critic in NYC, you enjoy humorous audiobooks, and love to laugh, this is a book you should not miss!

A book for one who likes to cook, eat, or both

Ms. Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires was deliciously interesting and fun to read. I enjoyed every bite of it. Long before I read her book,I ate in some of the restaurants she reviewed. I found her critiques to be on target. I wish she had written about more restaurants that she reviewed. Her own recipes sounded pretty good, too.