Overview

In this delightful sequel to her bestseller Tender at the Bone, the beloved food writer Ruth Reichl returns with more tales of love, life, humor, and marvelous meals. When listeners left Ruth at the end of Tender at the Bone, she was in Berkeley, California, working as a chef at the Swallow restaurant. Comfort Me with Apples picks up in 1978; Ruth is still living in a commune with her husband, Doug, but she's decided to put down her chef's toque and embark on a career as a restaurant critic. After a bumpy start (at the end of her very first on-the-job dinner, her credit card is unceremoniously rejected), she is soon visiting restaurants all over the world in search of a meal to write home about. The story that follows is an affectionate look at the apprenticeship--funny, daunting, always entertaining--of one of our best food writers. Ruth Reichl's pursuit of good food and good company leads her to New York and China, France and Los Angeles. She encounters world-famous chefs such as Wolfgang Puck and the three-star aristocracy of French cuisine, and her accounts of these meetings range from the madcap to the sublime. From a transformative lunch with M. F. K. Fisher to a friendship with Alice Waters, Reichl lovingly re-creates all her memorable meals in such succulent detail that listeners will yearn for truffles in Provence and shrimp in Beijing. Throughout it all, Reichl is unafraid, even eager, to poke holes in the pretensions of food critics, making each and every course a hilarious and instructive occasion for novices and experts alike. Reichl also shares the intimacies of her personal life--the joys and the heartbreaks behind the reviews--in a style so honest and warm that listeners will feel they are enjoying a cozy dining-table conversation with a friend.

Full Product Details

9781665103138

Table of Contents

Reviews

Elegant description captures the imagination, tempts the palate, and illustrates Reichl's well-deserved reputation as a food writer. Highly recommended. -- Library Journal Even more appetizing than Tender at the Bone, this volume is bound to visit bestseller lists. -- Publishers Weekly Magnificent, riotous, erotic...[Comfort Me with Apples] is an extended, lilting song about lovesickness and the restorative succor of good food...Two courses of Reichl's literary cooking will leave still-ravenous readers hoping for a third serving soon. [Rating: ] A. -- Entertainment Weekly Reichl writes with gusto, and her story has all the ingredients of a modern fairy tale: hard work, weird food, and endless curiosity. -- New Yorker So many memoirs annoy by telling either too much or too little. This one tells just enough...The book reads not like life described but like life lived and then shaped...Each story affirms [Reichl's] desire to get beyond the surface, even as she celebrates its unlikely depths. -- New York Times

Author Information

RUTH REICHL is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and the author of the bestselling books Comfort Me with Apples and Tender at the Bone, which was a James Beard Award finalist. She has been the restaurant critic at The New York Times, New West magazine, and California magazine, and the food editor and restaurant critic at the Los Angeles Times. Reichl lives in New York City with her husband and son. LORELEI KING has recorded over 200 audiobooks, including several titles from Janet Evanovich's bestselling Stephanie Plum series and Darynda Jones's Charley Davidson series. Her many awards include the 2008 Audie Award for Female Solo Narration for Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas, the Radio Times performer of the Year for The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, and AudioFile Earphones Awards for Eleven on Top and Twelve Sharp, both by Janet Evanovich. AudioFile also deemed her one of the Best Voices of 2008. King's screen credits include Notting Hill, House of Mirth, and Cold Feet, among others. She has appeared as regular and recurring characters in popular British television shows such as Chef, Cold Feet, Alistair McGowan's Big Impression, Emmerdale, and the saucy Mile High. King now makes her home in London, where she lives with her husband, actor Vincent Marzello.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available