Review of "Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise" by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl (b. 1948) is an American chef, restaurant critic, editor, and writer. Reichl has penned numerous cookbooks and memoirs, and this book covers Ruth's stint as food critic for the New York Times (NYT) from 1993 to 1999.

Author Ruth Reichl

Reichl was a long-time restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times when she was lured away by the NYT. Reichl moved across the country with her husband and son, and New York restaurants pinned up her picture, to make sure Ruth got A+ service when she came in.


Ruth Reichl dining out

Reichl knew she had to be anonymous to ensure 'customary' treatment, and she came up with a solution. Ruth decided to don disguises, so she could dine out incognito. Ruth got acting coach Claudia Banks to assist with creating new personas, which included new names, new outfits, wigs, different kinds of make-up, and novel personalities. Reichl explains that her demeanor and behavior morphed to coincide with the costume she donned.






Some of Ruth Reichl's disguises

Reichl's first portrayal was Molly Hollis - a humdrum, stocky, mid-western high school English teacher. To disguise herself as Molly, Ruth bought a dowdy Armani suit that was too big, and a brown bob wig. Masquerading as Molly, Ruth and a companion dined at Le Cirque, where they got terrible service. Ruth recalls, "I felt frumpy and powerless, and I did not like paying to be humiliated." Though Le Cirque's food was good, Ruth's restaurant review was uncomplimentary, and she took away Le Cirques's fourth star.

Le Cirque Restaurant

In another instance, Reichl dressed up as her mother, Miriam Brudno Reichl. For this impersonation, Reichl donned a blue silk dress, pearls, and Miriam's distinctive eye makeup. Wearing this outfit, Ruth 'became her mother' as a restaurant customer at the 21 Club. Miriam always sent everything back and insulted the waiter, so Ruth did exactly that. She writes, 'I was not a fan of the oysters or the soup, and I sent them back. The Caesar salad was too fishy for me. The onion rings were cold, so I sent them back.' In fact Ruth was so unpleasant that her dinner companion scolded her for going overboard.


21 Club Restaurant

Reichl describes other impersonations as well, such as a blonde bombshell; a bohemian aging hippie; a tweed woman; and so on.



Ruth's food review philosophy differed from her predecessor at the NYT, Bryan Miller.


Bryan Miller - former food critic for the New York Times

Bryan Miller critiqued only toney high end restaurants while Ruth also wrote up more ethnic eateries, like Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Asian, and Indian restaurants, as well as sushi bars. For example, Ruth reviewed the Japanese Honmura An restaurant in Soho, which had delicious soba.


Honmura An Restaurant in Soho

Soba are fine noodles, best eaten cold. They're served on a square lacquered tray with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice wine, kelp, dried bonito flakes and sugar. Reichl observes, 'The Japanese love soba noodles, made of buckwheat. They say it takes a year to learn to mix the dough and another year to learn to roll it.'


Soba noodles with dipping sauces

Though Bryan Miller had chosen to give up the NYT restaurant critic job, he resented no longer being 'the Prince of New York', and stopped speaking to Reichl. Bryan also wrote nasty letters about Ruth to the NYT editorial board - criticizing her choice of restaurants to review and suggesting she was ruining his previous hard work. Bryan's laments showed up on the Page Six gossip column, but Ruth had no comment.

In the course of her narrative, Reichl describes a treasure trove of restaurants she ate in and/or reviewed, such as: The Four Seasons, Sparks, Lespinasse, Tavern on the Green, Caravelle, Michael's, Windows on the World, The Box Tree, etc. It's fun to vicariously join Ruth on these dining expeditions, and to read about the food and wines she sampled.


The Four Seasons Restaurant


Tavern on the Green Restaurant


Windows on the World Restaurant

For example, Reichl writes about restaurant Daniel: "I remember the nine-herb ravioli, the wild hare stew, and the pumpkin soup. I also remember the lobster consommé, the skate, and the quail salad. I was served a wonderful bottle of Chassagne-Montrachet followed by a wonderfully plummy Bon Pasteur.


Skate


Quail Salad

And speaking about restaurant Union Pacific, Reichl notes, 'The restaurant's desserts are as interesting as its main courses. The strawberry charlotte with pistachio ice cream is deeply flavored. Raspberries are set onto a tart with lavender, and the crème brûlée is laced with passion fruit essence.


Strawberry Charlotte


Crème Brûlée

Reichl's job at the NYT had its ups and downs, and Ruth writes about her interactions (good and bad) with co-workers, editors, publishers, and diners who won a meal with her in an auction. (This chapter is pretty entertaining. LOL)

In time, Reichl decided she needed a change. She notes, "I had begun to wonder if I was pretending to be other people because I no longer liked the person I had become. I had started my career at the Times by insisting there was no right or wrong in matters of taste, but had turned into a fatuous food snob." In addition, Reichl's son Nicky lamented his mom's absence at meals, and wished his mom could be home to cook dinner in the evenings. Perhaps spurred on by this, Reichl left the NYT in 1999, and became editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. That's the subject of another memoir.


Ruth Reichl in the test kitchen at Gourmet magazine

Reichl includes some of her restaurant reviews in the book, which make interesting reading. Reichl also provides a smattering of recipes, such as: cheesecake, risotto, mussels, hash browns, gougères, roasted chicken, matzo brie, scallion dumplings, leg of lamb, and more.


Mussels


Gougères (French cheese puffs)


Scallion Dumplings

I liked the book, but some of Reichl's tales are clearly embellished and novelistic, to the point they approach fiction. That said, I'd recommend the book to anyone interested in the subject of food and restaurants.

Rating: 4 stars