Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

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Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 16,149 ratings · 2,151 reviews

Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be anonymous when reviewing some of the most high-profile establishments in the biggest restaurant town in the world--a charge she took very seriously, taking on the guise of a se...more

Paperback, 328 pages

Published March 28th 2006 by Penguin Books (first published April 7th 2005)

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Feb 08, 2008 Denise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: firstread, memoir

Reichl served as the New York Times food critic from 1993 to 1999, and this book is about her years as "The New York Times Food Critic" -- but it's also about her struggle to evade the identity of The New York Times Food Critic (tm) and get people an honest, egalitarian review of what, exactly, they're going to get out of their meal.

I vaguely remember bits and pieces of the controversy when Reichl took over the reins, but this book really blew the whole thing open. The problems she was facing we...more Reichl served as the New York Times food critic from 1993 to 1999, and this book is about her years as "The New York Times Food Critic" -- but it's also about her struggle to evade the identity of The New York Times Food Critic (tm) and get people an honest, egalitarian review of what, exactly, they're going to get out of their meal.

I vaguely remember bits and pieces of the controversy when Reichl took over the reins, but this book really blew the whole thing open. The problems she was facing were twofold: one, she wanted to cover a wider range of food than the previous "snooty French" coverage the NYT had tended to, thus necessitating not only developing a way to consistently evaluate cross-food-ethnicity, but also a way to convince Yr Av'g Noo Yawka that these cuisines were worthy of attention -- but more importantly, two, it was impossible to evaluate what kind of dining experience a "normal" person would have in the cut-throat, status-based New York City restaurant scene.

Reichl's solution -- create alternate 'selves', complete with their own personalities and quirks, and take them out to a meal (she deliberately built her personae to not encode for the status that would guarantee her a world-class experience) -- is simple and elegant, and the book itself is an engaging interaction with the idea of national privilege and identity as it plays out on restuarant tables. Her examples are well-chosen, and she writes beautifully: clear, direct, and entertaining. She also prints recipes and reprints several of the colums that resulted from the anecdotes she relates in the book, which serve as excellent bonus material.

But where the book shines is what it makes you think about. Because as Sarah (who read it first) came across a reference to a particular dollar amount for a meal, she turned to me, read that bit out loud, and said, "Is there something wrong with me that I don't think this is particularly exorbitant for a meal like that?" And I answered no -- because it didn't strike me as exorbitant either; food is one of the pleasures of life, dammit. (My operating assumption is that life is too short to put up with bad food, bad friends, a lousy job, or uncomfortable clothing.) And after it was my turn for the book, I put it down upon completion, and I started to think about Reichl's main thesis: that money and status are two entirely different things, and how the differing levels of privilege we all carry influence and shape us.

It's something I'm going to keep thinking about for a long time, particularly the next time we sit down to eat out -- whether it be at a hole-in-the-wall family-owned joint, a Major National Chain (tm), or a Dining Experience (tm) -- because Reichl has a lot of very smart, savvy, and interesting things to say, reading between the lines (and sometimes more overt than that) about American national identity, relationship to food, and concepts of service, status, and privilege. This is a no-holds-barred look at the best and the worst of us, and Reichl has the writing chops to pull it off.(less)

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Jun 21, 2007 Sierra rated it 3 of 5 stars

We're all nosy gossips at heart. This snappy account of Ruth Reichl's six years as The New York Times restaurant critic won't disappoint those looking for an insider's view of reviewing. Most of the book takes place in various swanky restaurants, but Reichl selects her most creative reviews and rarely wanders into Snobdom. After Reichl was pegged as the new critic for the Times on her flight to New York by the woman sitting next to her, she decided she would be needing some disguises. She create...more

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Jul 23, 2008 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favorite of Ruth Reichl's food memoirs. In this one she takes the job as restaurant critic for the New York Times. To avoid being recognized she creates disguises to use when she dines out. It is interesting to hear how people react to her as an old homely looking lady and then as herself when she visits the same restaurant again. I loved it and hope that she writes a new book in the future.

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Aug 30, 2007 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'd never read her Times reviews, so this was my first time experiencing any of her writing. I looked forward to my subway rides while I was reading this, and I found myself almost blushing while reading some of her more Porn-ish reviews of food. I loved every bit of the food critic/ dressing up in disguise/ new york times culture stuff, but could have done without much of the personal crap about discovering herself through her characters and what a good mom she is. I'm sure she is a good mom, i...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Kid rated it 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps in the stultifying context of NYT, food critics and privilege Reichl comes as a breath of fresh air . . .what she lacks is class. By class I mean the good grace to have actual humility - not the self-satisfied aww-shucks persona that feigns humility and self-doubt, but the real thing wherein you realize that you don't know shit and you're lucky to be celebrated in any context. Reichl takes pot shots at everyone and everything. . .people (editors, chefs, other diners, etc) emerge as caric...more Perhaps in the stultifying context of NYT, food critics and privilege Reichl comes as a breath of fresh air . . .what she lacks is class. By class I mean the good grace to have actual humility - not the self-satisfied aww-shucks persona that feigns humility and self-doubt, but the real thing wherein you realize that you don't know shit and you're lucky to be celebrated in any context. Reichl takes pot shots at everyone and everything. . .people (editors, chefs, other diners, etc) emerge as caricatures; myopic to their own shortcomings and the *truth* of world. Riechl presents herself as a great equalizer - bringing so-called "ethnic" cuisine into the dusty halls of the Old Gray Lady but is actually a crypto-snob about people who don't share her view. She creates a myriad of disguises to avoid special treatment at the dining establishments she reviews so she gets a "true" experience - but this book ends up being about the delights of disguises and ends up celebrating her own self-satisfied quasi-ingenuity. She delights in the ways she pulls the wool over various restaurateurs' (and hapless editors') eyes, their silly pretentiousness and their crass imperious ways - however it all leaves a bad taste in the mouth. She clearly has some kind of chip on her shoulder - I have ideas about why but what remains are unflattering portraits of the people who inhabit the world of "the paper of record" and high cuisine. Is that really a problem in the end? Don't these institutions deserve our contempt?

Yes they deserve our contempt and yes her stance is a problem. This is a burn-all-bridges kind of memoir. It's not that she peoples this book with a bunch of slobs, it's that she sets it against the assumption that she's such a delectable, desirable and CORRECT navigator. Give me a break. . .she's a critic enamored of the smell of her own stink. . .in this case her smug implications that her's is an unprecedented approach to reviewing restaurants at which we'll never eat a bite.

OK - clearly I'm mad at this book but it can be an entertaining read. . .thrift store purchase. . .nothing more. Oh and all the anecdotes taste of pure bullshit. This is a wildly inflated - tall-tale style book - something she mentions in the afterward - which is cheap. Her little son says the most charming and nauseating things! How wonderfully apropos! (less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who enjoys a good meal or wonders what a food critic does

Shelves: 2011-reads, bio-memoir, food, audiobook-e-book

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise whetted my appetite to read more food memoirs. This book charmed me from the get-go. Whether Ruth Reichl donned the costume of aggressive Emily, beatnik Brenda, sexy Chloe, her mother or invisible Betty Jones, her accounting of her stint as food critic of the New York Times sizzled. Lest anyone think this is a cream puff of a book, it isn't. Reichl candidly discussed how she deceived herself about her reasons for becoming a food criti...more

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May 08, 2008 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2008

Ruth Reichl is a good writer. She's a good critic. She's apparently a good chameleon, as well. GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES, Reichl's memoir of her time as the restaurant critic at the NY Times, is an enjoyable read, for the most part, that tells more than just the travails of a food critic. Reichl delivers some interesting "inner monologues" on the nature of self, and the several potential personalities that dwell within all of us. She also serves up a smattering of recipes, and several courses of her...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who has (or has thought of) eating in New York City

Shelves: non-fiction, foodgloriousfood, memoir

Living in Manhattan is incredibly expensive, but eating well in Manhattan isn't. That's the one thing I learned when I lived there in 1998.

When Reichl came to the New York Times as restaurant critic in the nineties, however, the paper was not known for reviewing the incredibly delicious (and incredibly affordable) ethnic restaurants that are thick upon the ground. For the Times, a four star restaurant was inevitably French, inevitably required reservations, and inevitably granted you superior se...more

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Dec 21, 2007 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: food lovers!

Shelves: cooking-or-cookbooks

This is the third installment that Ruth Reichl shares about her life. This book follows her as she becomes the NY Times restaurant critic.

While flying to NY to start the job she realizes that she's going to be recognized and must come up with a plan to eat out and not be treated as the NY Times restaurant critic. So she comes up with the fabulous idea of transforming herself into different people. She enlists help from her mother's friend and "becomes" her characters. She finds out that when she...more

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Sep 08, 2008 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: foodie

I've been working my way through an HP Lovecraft book and needed something a bit different. I finished this in a day.

Premice of the book is Ruth accepts a job with the NY Times as a restaurant critic. Her and her family leave LA and head back to her hometown. However, unlike LA, the restaurant scene in NY is on the watch for her and she discovers she must go out in disguse when reviewing and rating a restaurant. We follow Ruth as she invents Chloe, Brenda, Molly and others. I liked this book be...more

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Jan 14, 2008 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I've enjoyed Reichl's other two memoirs, too. She writes smoothly and entertainingly about the food scene, this time about her stint as the _New York Times_ restaurant critic. While I do not care about food as much as she does -- she can rhapsodize about the texture of a mushroom for whole sentences -- it was interesting to read about the disguises she used to avoid being recognized, and about how those disguises revealed or changed her own personality. Plus it allows a peek at a world I know ve...more

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Sep 07, 2008 Summer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, food-writing, i-will-lend-this-to-you

I really went back and forth on the rating for this. I like Ruth Reichl, I like what she's done with Gourmet, I like her non-elitist attitude, I like her food writing, and by all accounts, she's a genuinely nice person. But while she has a golden tongue for tasting, she has a wooden ear for dialogue. While her adventures in disguise have been confirmed by outside sources, they seem impossible to believe because her characterization is so wooden and awful. Heck, I almost questioned whether she ac...more

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Feb 10, 2007 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: random

Ruth reflects on her experience as the food critic for the New York Times. She has to disguise herself in order to get the "true" experience of the restaraunt, because as herself, she gets defferential treatment. As she takes on various personas, she learns more about herself than she would ever care to know! Whether it be her own mother, Brenda the hippie, or Emily the snivling accountant who only sees the worst in everyone, this memoir is as much a discovery of Ruth as it is of the food she wr...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. Reichl's style is clever. I started my career in NYC around the same time she became the Times critic, so I couldn't help chuckling at her early descriptions of the city, its people and neighborhoods.

I really loved the lessons she learned as she became the different characters who visited the restaurants.

Clever and witty. I don't usually love memoirs, but this one is a winner in my book.

Recommend for foodies for sure, since her descriptions of food went way beyond my...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've just begun, but she has caught my attention. I think this is going to be a fun read.

3.75(After finishing the book)I really enjoyed the story, but not all the nasty food that she ate. Raw/under-cooked meat, grease and mushrooms-yuck. It seemed like she ate the same things over and over-boring.

I absolutely loved the adventure she took with Ed Levine in the chapter, "The Missionary of the Delicious." This is how food should be enjoyed-with fun and passion.

She should have left the recipes out-...more

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Feb 13, 2009 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

it's an entertaining read for sure - i really enjoyed her descriptions of food, and her observations of restaurants and surroundings - she has a definite gift for writing. and the whole concept of her book is interesting and thoughtful, and prescient.

however, i couldn't shake the feeling as i read the book that she is overall annoying and a big debbie downer. although her premise coming in as a food critic at the NYT is that taste is subjective, she comes across as strongly opinionated and arro...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ruth Reichl is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and the former restaurant critic of the New York Times. In this book she covers the period of her life that she was hired at the New York Times and eventually quit to work for Gourmet.

I'm fascinated by the restaurant industry. Of course I'm living in Syracuse Utah, so I'm not actually experiencing fine dining on a daily basis, but still I'm amazed by the dishes a good chef can create. The process of coming up with these dishes is very cool,...more Ruth Reichl is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and the former restaurant critic of the New York Times. In this book she covers the period of her life that she was hired at the New York Times and eventually quit to work for Gourmet.

I'm fascinated by the restaurant industry. Of course I'm living in Syracuse Utah, so I'm not actually experiencing fine dining on a daily basis, but still I'm amazed by the dishes a good chef can create. The process of coming up with these dishes is very cool, and one of the reasons I'm addicted to the Food Network and why Top Chef is one of my favorite shows.

Reichl's book is an interesting look at what happens after the food has left the kitchen ( for an excellent look at the chef's side, try Anthony Bourdain's book about his life as a chef). The life of a restaurant critic means she spends hours choosing wigs and disguises, almost creating new personalities just so chef's don't have a chance at guessing who she is, and making sure she gets only the best food. The disguise thing almost overtook every other aspect of the book by the end, it was an annoyance when she spent less time describing the food and dishes than she did the type of clothing and attitude she used while critiquing. While I loved hearing about her spending time in multiple Chinese restaurants planning the perfect buffet for her boss, she'd then go on and on about how important it was to find the perfect wig, and how wonderful it was to find that person that could provide it. Then each disguise brought a different personality that she would go on and on about. More about the perfect roast duck, less about the type of purse that goes with your current disguise please.

The power she wielded as soon as she was named the critic was pretty amazing, her picture was posted in kitchen everywhere so chefs could give her the best strawberries, the largest portions of steak and the freshest desserts. It made me think I'd skip the disguise just to get the royal treatment whenever I went out.

The home recipes scattered throughout the book don't seem to fit until you reach the end and understand what it's all leading up to. None of them sounded interesting enough to try, but it's an interesting way to show how she wants to stay ties to home-cooked meals while she is out dining. She also takes her husband and son out to eat at some of the restaurants, and their reactions are almost as interesting as hers.

It's a quick read, and has a enough variety for most of the book to keep it interesting. It's not until the last quarter that it starts to slow down, partly because it's so obvious that she isn't enjoying her job. It comes through in the writing and makes it more difficult to continue reading.(less)

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Dec 29, 2008 Lightreads rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, memoir

A book I shouldn't have liked, but actually did. The deeply, deeply, I cannot stress this enough deeply fake fictionalized memoir of the former New York Times food critic, who found it necessary to dress up as various people in order to visit fancy restaurants unrecognized. I should have been put off by the whole story. I mean, I'm sure the encounters have some vague linkage with reality somewhere back there, right? And I should have been put off by the rather shallow treatment of the interestin...more

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May 16, 2013 spoko rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another food book. I was actually reading this and MFK Fisher's The Gastronomical Me together, for an online reading group. Turned out to be a very nice combination.

Ruth Reichl was the restaurant critic at the New York Times for quite a while (I'm sure the book says how long, but I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look), and this book tells the story of that time. I was surprised by how much I liked the book. At one or another point, in fact, I thought about stopping reading it, but I'm glad I...more

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May 05, 2013 Brenna rated it 5 of 5 stars

I owe a debt of gratitude to Ruth Reichl. This funny, light-hearted memoir kept me sane while I was taking my written qualifying exam for my PhD. I randomly found the book in a coffee shop that has a "Book Crossings" shelf, and because I have a weakness for cooking-related memoirs, picked it up. It was the perfect diversion from reading mass quantities of scientific papers for my exam -- I would just pick up Reichl's book when feeling particularly overwhelmed and lose myself in the New York rest...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Lesbianfunworld Online rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-queer-book

First off, let me say I hate Garlic and Sapphires. Yes, I know, I gave it 5 stars. But damnit! I gained 10 pounds while listening to the audio book! And that is not one word of a lie. 10 freaking pounds! I mean, if it was a paper edition and I ate the stupid thing I could understand. But it was audio! I just had to sit and listen!

Ach. Anyway…

I picked this book as an antidote to Girl Boy Girl, about a woman who dressed as a young man transitioning to become a woman. I’d have enough of the “who...more First off, let me say I hate Garlic and Sapphires. Yes, I know, I gave it 5 stars. But damnit! I gained 10 pounds while listening to the audio book! And that is not one word of a lie. 10 freaking pounds! I mean, if it was a paper edition and I ate the stupid thing I could understand. But it was audio! I just had to sit and listen!

Ach. Anyway…

I picked this book as an antidote to Girl Boy Girl, about a woman who dressed as a young man transitioning to become a woman. I’d have enough of the “who am I” melodrama, and wanted something warm and comforting for the cold February morning walks to work. How I managed to choose a book about a food critic who dressed up as other women in order to dine in disguise is beyond me.

So, Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl, read, according to the audio book cover, by the author. Except within the first 15 seconds we are told it is read by Bernadette Dunn. Maybe that’s Ruth’s real name, maybe it’s another persona of Ruth’s, maybe it’s some hapless professional reader who isn't getting the credit she deserves for making cooking recipes sound interesting.

Ruth was, for a time, the restaurant critic for the New York Times. Have I mentioned I don’t read the Times? Or restaurant reviews? Or recipes? Anyway, I digress. The book chronicles her decision to join the Times, her experiences at the restaurants and, most importantly, her decision to wear disguises while doing so.

She would buy wigs and different outfits and then channel her inner hippie/old lady/bitch/fahncy while dining at various restaurants. This gave Ruth the opportunity to experience a restaurant as a “real person,” or any number of “real people,” and then as the much-pampered critic; thus she would compare the food, the service, and the guests with whom she dined.

Much more than a book about restaurants, it’s a book about privilege and society, and about the journey Ruth takes to find the pieces of herself in the food she eats and the company she keeps.
Her New York Times journey is over, and from it came this wonderful, witty and heartfelt book.

I however, am still gaining weight :/

(P.S. I have just begun reading The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton. Let's hope I can separate myself a little better from that book than I did with Garlic and Sapphires.)(less)

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Nov 18, 2012 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, biography, ylto-challenge

This starts with Ruth heading to New York ready to take up the post of the New York Times' restaurant critic. this is a high powered post, as everyone want to impress the food critic and get a good write up for their establishment. She discovered quite how high much pressure there is on her on the plane to NY, when a fellow traveller starts giving her a once over. Once they spot a food critic, the restaurant is likely to try and impress (the tale of the increasing raspberres is a beautiful vigne...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Erica Verrillo rated it 1 of 5 stars

After reading Tender at the Bone, I was looking forward to more of Ruth Reichl. Garlic and Sapphires was not only a disappointment, it was as if a completely different person had written it. It is ironic that in a book about disguises, Reichl herself was unrecognizable. Far from the funny, sensitive, and sincere person she was in her first book, Reichl had transformed herself into a self-absorbed snob loaded with enough hypocrisy to sink a ship.

This book covers Reichl's stint as the New York Tim...more After reading Tender at the Bone, I was looking forward to more of Ruth Reichl. Garlic and Sapphires was not only a disappointment, it was as if a completely different person had written it. It is ironic that in a book about disguises, Reichl herself was unrecognizable. Far from the funny, sensitive, and sincere person she was in her first book, Reichl had transformed herself into a self-absorbed snob loaded with enough hypocrisy to sink a ship.

This book covers Reichl's stint as the New York Times chief restaurant critic. Although she accepts the position, she has reservations about the elitist implications of the job, and vows to write for the masses--those million readers who can't afford to spend $100 for a meal at a four-star French restaurant. Part of her mission is to expose the poor treatment many of these restaurants heap on the "common man." But in order to accomplish this lofty goal, Reichl must eat in disguise. For if she is recognized as New York's premier restaurant critic, she'll be treated like royalty. (Although this obviously has no bearing on the quality of the food, it has a great deal of bearing on the quality of the experience. Personally, I eat for the food.)

The idea is cute, and for the first few chapters it was fun. But Reichl shows her true colors right from the start when she heaps disdain on a bearded ignoramus (wearing Birkenstocks...unforgivable!) for having the audacity to dip his sushi rice-side down, thereby "ruining" the "clear transparent flavor," the "taut crispness," and the clam that was "almost baroque in its sensuality." (I have yet to meet a sensual or almost baroque clam, but I'll take Reichl's word for it.) Reichl then reminisces about her trip to Japan, in which she is first exposed to the proper way to eat Japanese food. (I'm pretty sure the guy in Birkenstocks could not afford to go to Japan for eating lessons.) In her other encounters with diners at top-notch restaurants Reichl indulges in so much blatant one-up-manship that you simply can't sympathize with her concern for the "simple folk" no matter how much she tries to dress like them. The verbal food fights with the poor guy she picks up in a bar as the vampish Chloe (what's up with THAT??), and with the self-avowed "food warrior" were downright churlish. After proclaiming that there is no right way to eat food, Reichl clearly demonstrates that it's her way or the highway. Even Reichl's portrayals of other diners, who are merely innocent bystanders, are dreadfully stereotyped, sometimes to the point of cruelty. (She assumes that a "loud, brassy blonde," who is disturbing her expensive meal, is a prostitute. Apparently, sitting next to the "masses" isn't nearly as much fun as pretending to write for them.)

Even Reichl's disguises lacked credibility. Reichl's claims that she had an instant personality transformation with each new disguise are simply unbelievable. She BECOMES the 'little people,' taking on their imagined attributes, their voices, their very lives. She comes up with histories for each of the women she invents, and, with just a wig and some makeup, is so amazingly convincing that she can even fool her husband! Either Reichl is schizophrenic, or she takes method acting entirely too seriously. She certainly takes herself too seriously.

If the book had been well written I could have forgiven the snobbery, but, with the exception of one chapter, "The Missionary of the Delicious," in which Reichl was somehow able to get a grip on herself, purple prose abounded. (As her editor I would have crossed out half of her adjectives.) The inclusion of reprints of her published reviews was redundant, and the recipes were mediocre. (There was no clue in these recipes that Reichl was an expert in the kitchen. But, hey, she was writing for the "huddled masses yearning to eat free." What do we know? We can't even dip sushi right.)

If Reichl hadn't been so intent on wallowing in her ego, this book might have had possibilities. She loves food, and she has dined in some truly fabulous restaurants. The fact that most of us can't afford them is irrelevant. She had a duty to go to these marvelous places, enjoy herself to the max, and then take the rest of us with her. (less)

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Jun 15, 2012 Robyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-or-memoir, library, nonfiction

When I picked up this book, I actually said aloud "alright, you horrible woman, this is your last chance with me. This one had damn well better be an improvement on the last two."

The good news is that it is.
The bad news is that it's nothing I'm the slightest bit interested in.

My reviews of Reichl's first two memoirs are available for anyone who cares enough to go find them on my profile, I'll sum up here: Tender At The Bone = interesting and fun to read until Reichl goes to a Montreal boardin...more When I picked up this book, I actually said aloud "alright, you horrible woman, this is your last chance with me. This one had damn well better be an improvement on the last two."

The good news is that it is.
The bad news is that it's nothing I'm the slightest bit interested in.

My reviews of Reichl's first two memoirs are available for anyone who cares enough to go find them on my profile, I'll sum up here: Tender At The Bone = interesting and fun to read until Reichl goes to a Montreal boarding school, after which she becomes a self-absorbed, entitled, privileged, whining, self-congratulatory, preening bitch. Comfort Me With Apples = Reichl is still annoyed that she's not the center of the universe, starts fucking around on her husband, runs off for trips abroad to indulge herself and her affairs, strings along both her husband and the man she's cheating with, remarries, does whatever she can to increase her socio-economic standing, refuses to even take a stab at empathy, thinks she's the greatest thing since sliced bread, repels her husband enough to make him nearly leave her, gets pregnant.

I think the reason Garlic and Sapphires is better is that it's only barely about Reichl, and where it is it's not really about her as a person or about her life. A few places she's introspective and they tend to be places where she realizes negative aspects of her personality, so that was nice for someone who was completely turned off by her as a human being in reading her first two books.

The problem is that this is a book that is not about food but pretends to be about food. I don't care how many adjectives get squeezed into a reprinted restaurant review, descriptions of single meals are not stories about food. I love New York, but I don't live in New York of the 1990s, so it does nothing for me to read the reviews AS reviews, and once Reichl had gotten into the swing of disguising herself it became just another writing gimmick to introduce the next review.

Overall, I'd say the book was like eating jello in the hospital. There's lots of colour, very bright, to draw your attention and keep you moving forward. But there's nothing beneath that. There's no substance, no flavour. It's coloured water and gelatin. Only two things happened in this book, 1) a co-worker got cancer in the background and passed away; 2) Reichl spent several years eating at restaurants before deciding it was sucking her away from her life and she needed to do something different. Everything else was "I chose this wig and this outfit for this reason, ate at this restaurant where they treated me poorly because they didn't know I was Somebody with a capital S, used the following 87 adjectives to describe each course, published the following review, was insufferable to my husband and not often present for my child."

Based on my feelings about Reichl as a person from reading her first two books, I'd have given this one 2 stars. Setting that aside and reviewing as if I'd never read them, 3 stars at maximum.(less)

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Apr 28, 2012 Marsha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, cooking-food-wine, memoir

The 80s had bottomed out and the economy went bust. Ruth’s job in California was by no means in jeopardy but her husband felt it was time for a change. But could she trade sunny California for the grim skies of New York? “The New York Times” was beckoning and it would be an opportunity to work with what was considered the greatest newspaper in the United States. Plus, she grew up in New York… So what could she do but say yes?

“Garlic and Sapphires” shows Ruth’s work as food critic for the Times....more

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Apr 04, 2012 Billie Criswell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ruth Reichl's books never disappoint, and this book was no exception. In fact, I think it might be my favorite so far. I loved the whole premise behind it because the idea of hearing what a food critic REALLY thinks (behind the headlines style) is a great one. Even better? She was a stealth food critic, going in disguise to all sorts of restaurants in the 90's.

Ruth continues to be her own most fascinating character, even with all the disguises she gets into for this book. What amused me most, t...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise is Ruth Reichl's memoir of her days as the New York Times restaurant critic during the 1990's. New to the stodgy New York Times from the more relaxed dining atmosphere of California, Reichl is determined to provide her readers with an honest, fresh perspective on the restaurant scene. To that end, she creates characters, disguises, and personalities so that she can eat happily undetected by waiters and maitre d's in New York's vast ar...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Carly Fisher rated it 3 of 5 stars

The plot: Former NYT food critic Ruth Reichl's personal narrative about assuming the coveted position and her struggle to remain anonymous, fair, and true to herself. In her attempts to do so, Reichl begins taking acting lessons and purchasing elaborate disguises to portray the role of different diners at various restaurants to see how her treatment differs. While the differing treatment is hardly surprising, Reichl begins to lose herself in each character in hopes of understanding the various r...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't know why I was so hesitant to read this. Her " Tender at the Bone" is one of my favorite books ever. I just thought " hmm a book about her restaurant critic days just doesn't sound that interesting." I was so wrong. Here's the thing, "Tender at the Bone" was the first book I read that had personal stories mixed with recipes. I loved her honesty, I loved her humor and I loved her recipes. I read that book before I started writing personal essays and I think she influenced me. This book (...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Lu rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had high hopes for this book. How wonderful to escape into a novel and peek inside the life of the NYT restaurant critic! And it was wonderful for about the first hundres pages. After that, the story got repetative. Dress up in costume, review a restaurant. Repeat. I was thinking about it and what the book is missing is a problem or crisis that has to be overcome. Ruth tried to portray the problem of 'oh! I just realized that what I do for a living is shallow'...and then she'd go on to keep re...more

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About Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl is an American food writer, the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and culinary editor for the Modern Library.
Born to parents Ernst and Miriam (née Brudno), she was raised in New York City and spent time at a boarding school in Montreal. She attended the University of Michigan, where she met her first husband, the artist Douglas Hollis. She graduated in 1970 with a M.A. in art history...more

More about Ruth Reichl...

Books by Ruth Reichl

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table

The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes

Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way

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Quotes from Garlic And Sapphires

“When a person has lived generously and fought fiercely, she deserves more than sadness at the end.” — 6 people liked it

“A thousand years ago the Chinese had an entirely codified kitchen while the French were still gnawing on bones. Chopsticks have been around since the fourth century B.C. Forks didn't show up in England until 1611, and even then they weren't meant for eating but just to hold the meat still while you hacked at it with your knife.” — 2 people liked it

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