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 worldaa charge she took very seriously, taking on the guise of a series of eccentric personalities. In "Garlic and Sapphires," Reichl reveals the comic absurdity, artifice, and excellence to be found in the sumptuously appointed stages of the epicurean world and gives usaalong with some of her favorite recipes and reviewsaher remarkable reflections on how oneas outer appearance can influence oneas inner character, expectations, and appetites, not to mention the quality of service one receives.
aThis wonderful book is funnyaat times laugh-out-loud funnyaand smart and wise.a "aThe Washington Post"
aReichl is so gifted . . . the reader remains hungry for more.a "aUSA Today"
aExpansive and funny.a "aEntertainment Weekly"

Eating Words gathers food writing of literary distinction and historical sweep into one splendid volume. Beginning with the taboos of the Old Testament and the tastes of ancient Rome, and including travel essays, polemics, memoirs and poems, the book is divided into sections such as "Kitchen Practices"; "Food Memory: Identity, Family, Ethnicity"; "Eating: Delight, Disgust, Hunger, Horror" and "Food Politics". Selections by Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Buford, Michael Pollan, Molly O'Neill, Calvin Trillin and Adam Gopnik, along with authors not usually associated with gastronomy-Maxine Hong Kingston, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Hemingway, Chekhov and David Foster Wallace-enliven and enrich this comprehensive anthology.

"Genuinely touching, wonderfully revealing" NEW YORKER Garlic and Sapphires is Ruth Reichl's riotous account of the many disguises she employs to dine undetected when she takes on the much coveted and highly prestigious job of New York Times restaurant critic. ____________________________________________________ Reichl knows that to be a good critic she has to be anonymous - but her picture is posted in every four-star, low-star kitchen in town and so she embarks on an extraordinary - and hilarious - undercover game of disguise - keeping even her husband and son in the dark. There is her stint as Molly, a frumpy blonde in an off-beige Armani suit that Ruth takes on when reviewing Le Cirque resulting in a 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. Then there is the eccentric, mysterious red head on whom her husband - both disconcertingly and reassuringly - develops a terrible crush. She becomes Brenda the earth mother, Chloe the seductress and even Miriam her own (deceased) mother. What is even more remarkable about Reichl's spy games is that as she takes on these various guises, she finds herself changed not just physically, but also in character revealing how one's outer appearance can very much influence one's inner character, expectations, and appetites.

Eating Words gathers food writing of literary distinction and historical sweep into one splendid volume. Beginning with the taboos of the Old Testament and the tastes of ancient Rome, and including travel essays, polemics, memoirs and poems, the book is divided into sections such as "Kitchen Practices"; "Food Memory: Identity, Family, Ethnicity"; "Eating: Delight, Disgust, Hunger, Horror" and "Food Politics". Selections by Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Buford, Michael Pollan, Molly O'Neill, Calvin Trillin and Adam Gopnik, along with authors not usually associated with gastronomy-Maxine Hong Kingston, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Hemingway, Chekhov and David Foster Wallace-enliven and enrich this comprehensive anthology.