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Aug 03, 2007

Anne rated it:

Reichl is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, and this is her memoir about "Growing up at the table." As she tells the stories of her life, growing up with a manic depressive mother, going to boarding school in Montreal, and surviving in a commune in Berkeley, she includes recipes she loves and describes her unique and constant connection with food. Reichl is a good story-teller, and I look forward to trying some of her recipes. I was, however, deeply disturbed by the portrayal of More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2008

Sarah rated it:

Having thoroughly enjoyed Garlic and Sapphires, I was thrilled to find this first of Reichl's memoirs on the 2-for-3 table at Barnes & Noble.

In the preface, Reichl admits to modifying certain stories for dramatic effect. But unless she's made entire years out of whole cloth, she's lived one hell of an interesting life. Throughout it all, the power of a meal -- sometimes spectacular, sometimes spectacularly bad -- has been a constant.

And to be honest, I don't care if the t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 09, 2008

Wynne rated it:

My cousin Colette recently recommended this book and I am really enjoying it. It is a memoir by Ruth Reichl, who is Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine. She is the only child of a manic-depressive mother, who is a absolutely horrendous cook, but doesn't know it and always makes her guests sick with her creations, even scraping mold off old food before adding it to a casserole dish! She learns to cook from other people and loves every minute in the kitchen. I can say without reservation that her More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2008

Rebecca rated it:

What a life! Being banished to learn French at a boarding school in Montreal? Lunatic New York mother fixing spoiled sea urchin and suckling pig? Traipsing through Morocco? Working and living in lunatic communes in Berkeley? And all the while eating, eating, eating.
Ruth Reichl lives to cook and eat and feed people. Not a shabby life!
I liked this MUCH better than her [Comfort Me With Apples] by the way. Call me wimpy but... coming of age, getting married, finding your life passion-- More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Amanda rated it:

Great memoir by a restaurant critic. She has used food as a vehicle and a metaphor to talk about her life, often jumping from place to place and time period to time period, leaving you to fill in the gaps between recipes and memories of meals she cooked and ate. Most interesting I think is the story of her college roommate who was of West Indian descent. Later on her parents admitted that she was adopted and was actually the child of a black man and a white woman. Her roommate quickly shed h More...

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Dec 15, 2011

Josephine rated it:

I think I love Ruth Reichl — and yes, I’m saying this in a completely gushy way.

Yes, she’s one of the most influential food critics of our time, but what I like best about her is her writing.

In her memoir, “Tender at the Bone,” she describes how “food could be a way of making sense of the world” and you’re introduced to the characters in her life — and how, they in turn, introduced her to her love of cooking.

Beginning with her mother, the Queen of Mold — a manic dep More...

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May 09, 2011

Cindy rated it:

I liked Garlic and Sapphires better, but, I truly enjoyed reading this food memoir. It helped me understand and appreciate Garlic and Sapphires even better! The fragile poignant moments of self discovery through cooking were delicious. The recipes, caused me to become prolific in the kitchen...I couldn't resist the veal, and Gary and I supped divinely on chicken, potato salad and other delights. I think this would be a fun Book club read, if everyone brought one of their favorite recipes and More...

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Mar 17, 2011

Betsy rated it:

It's nearly impossible to read Ruth Reichl's memoir of her childhood and early adulthood without hearing your stomach growl. Her book is often funny, very touching and filled to the brim with tales of discovering great food and recipes for the dishes that shaped her life's path. The book follows Reichl's life from her tumultuous childhood through her self-exploration in her early 20's. Tales flow from her days at a Canadian boarding school, her years living essentially on her own as a high sc More...

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Feb 11, 2011

Esutterlin rated it:

I discovered this book through a "blind date" program at my local public library in Maplewood, NJ. Unlike many other readers, I had never read any of the author's restaurant reviews as I am new to New Jersey. Right up front I must confess that it was my love for biographies, travel, personal perspectives on history, and storyweaving that made me like this book, rather than any interest in food or recipes. I was brought up more gourmand than gourmet, and my preference for bland taste an More...

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Sep 30, 2010

Emily rated it:

Ah Ruth. Like Kim Severson (See my last review), I have a total girlcrush on Ruth Reichl. It goes back to when I was in the Columbia Publishing Course, and my magazine project team made a food magazine called "ginger" that was about bringing Asian cuisine into the american home kitchen, in an authentic way. (I think we phrased this worse back then, if you can believe it.) And the head of the CPC took our mockup and showed it to Ruth, and said she LOVED it. Sadly, never verified this an More...

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Aug 22, 2010

Melissa rated it:

My friend Megan gave me this book a while ago, when I had my wisdom teeth removed, and I'm so glad she did! "Tender at the Bone" is the really sweet, rich memoir of Ruth Reichl, renowned food and wine writer and last editor-in-chief of the now departed Gourmet magazine.

Ruth is a witty writer, and there were lots of moments when I laughed out loud as I read her remembrances of her eccentric mother, "The Queen of Mold," and the other quirky characters in her life. De More...

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Dec 20, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

Light, yet rich and tasty. Restaurant critic Ruth Reichl's memoir is all of these. Easy to read, yet filled with insight and well-rounded characters. The author's mother suffered from manic depression, and one way it manifested itself was in bizarre - and often downright poisonous - culinary creations. The author describes herself as having been shaped by her mother's handicap, beginning at an early age to use food as a way of making sense of the world. She effectively conveys this food-sense in More...

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May 13, 2009

Jackie rated it:

I haven't read any of Ms. Reichl's previous books. But this one received glowing reviews so I figured it was a must read. That said, I wish I could have given it a half star, so my review would be 2 1/2 stars instead of three.

She has an amazing way with words. I love her descriptions, and came to feel like some of the people in her books were old friends. But--in the end I was getting a little impatient to be finished. I grew a little weary of her parading her philosophies. N More...

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Oct 27, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

Again, so wonderful! Her descriptions of the food are so magical I can taste everything. To live in Berkley near Chez Panisse, to eat at Ma Maison when Puck was just getting his foot in the door, to go to France and happen upon cheese that has become a myth, to be introduced to balsamic vinegar when almost no one in the US has even heard of it, what a journey and I am so glad I am along for the ride! I am starting Comfort me with Apples and I am already sad that it will come to an end.

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Jun 10, 2009

Marni rated it:

Another thrift shop find....and what I really wanted to read was Ruth's accounts of being a food editor at the NY Times (I heard her interviewed about this book multiple times on NPR, but I took what I could get. And I ended up being very pleased that I chose this book. I've read a lot of memoirs in the past few years, but this one was really fascinating, giving a good background to a fascination with, and love of, a variety of tastes.

I was also amazed at how fearless Ruth was. F More...

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Nov 17, 2011

robyn rated it:

I've never read Ruth Reichl's food column, and the recipes included in this book don't tempt me - maybe if I was a more seasoned cook - ! but I liked her writing, I enjoyed her story-telling, and I found myself staying up past my bedtime to finish the last couple of chapters.

Writing your memoirs has got to be the trickiest writing job of all; you need a healthy dollop of conceit to actually think anyone would want to read them, but if your self-conceit is obvious, nobody WILL want to More...

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Sep 02, 2009

Sri rated it:

Suka!!! Buku ini berisi memoir Ruth Reichl sejak Ruth kecil hingga berusia menjelang 30 tahun. Dalam setiap bab ada resep masakan yang dipelajari Ruth dari orang-orang di sekitarnya. Dari ibunya, si Queen of Mold. Dari nenek, para pembantu, teman-teman dan orang-orang yang dia jumpai dalam perjalanan hidupnya. Kreativitas Ruth dalam memasak mungkin diperoleh dari ibunya yang super kreatif dalam mencampur-campur bahan makanan tapi hasilnya? Ruth kecil sibuk menjadi polisi makanan, mencegah para t More...

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Apr 27, 2010

Pat rated it:

The recipes included in this book were milestones in Ruth Reichl's journey to eventually becoming a food critic with the New York Times.

"At first I paid attention only to taste, storing away the knowledge that my father preferred salt to sugar and my mother had a sweet tooth. Later I also began to note how people ate, and where. My brother liked fancy food in fine surroundings, my father only cared about the company, and Mom would eat anything so long as the location was More...

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Jul 27, 2009

Karen rated it:

I liked this book but didn't love it. This is a memoir written by a NY Times food critic that manages to intermingle her relationship with food throughout different phases of her life and growing up with a manic-depressive mother. There were recipes interspersed throughout that were relevent to the experience she was talking about. (They were sometimes oddly thrown in, not quite at the right places, which was a little weird.) The book had a binding theme (food) that worked and was well-written. More...

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Apr 03, 2010

Logan rated it:

I’m not normally a big fan of books about food. They always leave me cursing my limited culinary abilities and hungry for foods that are far outside of my price range, not to mention excluded by various personal dietary choices. I likely never would have picked up anything by Ruth Reichl had I not found myself uncharacteristically bookless while lounging in the park this past weekend and in need of diversion. Fortunately a friend had a copy of this deep in the bottom of her bag and I was able More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2010

Rebecca rated it:

Quick story about Ruth Reichl first...I met Ruth at a book signing for her beautiful Gourmet cookbook. When I handed my book over for her signature, I told her how much I had liked a recent issue of Gourmet Magazine -- it was the "A to Z" issue, detailing recipes for vegetables and fruits from apples to zucchini. She smiled at me and said, "I'm so glad you liked it! My boss hated that issue." I smiled back at her. Her boss disagrees with her sometimes, my boss disagrees with More...

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Mar 20, 2009

Barbara rated it:

Ruth Reichl has been involved with the American food scene since the 1970s, serving as restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times and as editor-in-chief to Gourmet magazine. In this memoir she provides behind-the-scene details that propelled her career as a foodie. Reichl introduces the people who influenced and shared their cooking expertise with her. This, along with the recipes that defined her as a cook long before she published anything, makes for fascinating rea More...

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Jun 21, 2008

Allison rated it:

Delectable, as both a memoir and as top notch food writing (recipes included). One of the few books I need to (and do) own a copy of. Whether recounting her eccentric family life as a girl, her bohemian young adulthood, or her various travels and culinary explorations, Reichl is funny, warm, poignant, and brings an infectious appetite to the table and to life.*

(*If you gagged at this, I don't blame you.)

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Aug 08, 2011

Nicole rated it:

This book is about Ruth's life which revolves around food. Ever since she was a young girl her family and culture is all about the food that brings them together. Ruth even decides to make food her life instead of getting a real job. In the book Ruth also describes the struggling relationship between her and her mother who suffers from a depressing disorder. My favorite part of the book was that in each chapter there was a different recipe written for the reader to use also. Its like the author More...

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Jan 07, 2010

Shinara rated it:

What's not to love: reflection on growing up told through food. Even though I don't think I've ever eaten a single spoonful of the foods mentioned in this book (all carnivorous), Reichl's mixing in just the right ratios of love, race, history, traveling, alienation, longing, resentment, and collusion to make this a strangely addictive book. It makes life seem endlessly romantic with a potentially heroic person always within reach. The writing is quite sympathetic and the characters oh so ende More...

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Feb 02, 2009

JM rated it:

I didn't read food writing, or anything even close until I read this book. I shared it with friends who had never read restaurant reviews and barely even knew cooking past mac and cheese. Everyone thanked me for sharing. It's easy to get hooked in with the description of her Mom's cooking. Being an awful cook isn't a death sentence, in fact it propelled Ruth to be what she is. What a wonderful way to become Ruth Reichl: try to be as good as your Mom is terrible.

The writing is More...

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Aug 28, 2011

Jenny rated it:

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table is a food memoir written by Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet magazine, about her youth and her journey toward being an influential contributor toward gourmet food in America.

I thought this book was very so-so. There are some very interesting chapters and her overall journey is interesting, if not amazing. Truly, she did not grow up with a food pedigree or even a knowledge/desire to do what she does which I think is remarkable and m More...

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Jul 31, 2011

Kate rated it:

I used to idolize Ruth Reichl (and two of her other food-memoirs are favorites of mine). Somehow, however, this book brought to the forefront her "revisions" of stories, in a way that made me skeptical of the whole book. "Tender at the Bone" begins with a foreword saying that she learned never to let the truth get in the way of a good story -- but this, ironically, got in the way of me enjoying her good story. I found myself watching the narrative conventions, people appear More...

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Sep 21, 2009

Kristy rated it:

This was the perfect book for me to read whilst 38 weeks pregnant.I know it sounds strange to associate the kind of book I'm reading with the fact that I'm pregnant, but they are very much related. I've been seeking easy, somewhat upbeat yet well-written stories to keep myself distracted and in good spirits! This was perfect.
I'm such a fan of food writing and good memoirs and this book is a perfect combination of both. Reichl is wonderful. I don't want anyone to tell me a story that wi More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Dana rated it:

Ruth Reichl, food critic and a former editor of Gourmet magazine, has written about her early years in this autobiography. Her mother had a manic depressive mental disorder and was a horrendous cook even to the point of potentially inadvertently poisoning people. Ruth learned early on a joy and passion for food.

From her boarding school days to her times at Berkeley she tells of her passion for food. She collects unforgettable characters as well as fabulous recipes. Trying to balance a More...

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