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Au Revoir To All That: Food, Wine, And The End Of France (2009)

by Michael Steinberger(Favorite Author)

3.53 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1596913533 (ISBN13: 9781596913530)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Bloomsbury USA

review 1: I enjoyed enough of this book to give it 3 stars but not enough for more. Especially interesting were the insights into a flawed Michelin system and transmission of different highfalutin chefs' attitudes about in versus out of kitchen development, star obsession (with ratings and franchising), and finally, that France could benefit from more foreign (north African,e.g.) presence in elite eateries. The chefs described I admired most were those who threw Michelin snobbery to the wind, stayed in their kitchens, and looked to consider a balance of past and future for inspiration. A revoir, but only to some of the rich French culinary tradition.
review 2: Francophile Steinberger left his investment-banking job on Wall Street to become a journalist. Now, in addition... more to being a wine columnist, he writes about finance, economics, culture and . . . French cuisine. Au Revoir is a most entertaining history of French gastronomy that focuses on how and why French cuisine isn’t what it used to be. It includes portraits of iconic French chefs, visits to their restaurants, praise for McDonald’s from some of the same (they focus on the "fun" rather than the "fast" aspect), details about the power and influence of the Michelin Guide, “France’s culinary Bible” (one celebrated chef committed suicide when Michelin withdrew his third star). The author's distress at the slippage in French gastronomic traditions is infectious. less

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