The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food
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What does it take to put a plate of food on the table of a restaurant?
An experienced food writer and chronicler of restaurant history in Chefs, Drugs, and Rock and Roll, Andrew Friedman offers a vivid, sweeping account of what happens before and after a diner places an order, in this case, for a dry-aged strip loin with tomato and sorrell at Wherewithal, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago.
Like a well-trained kitchen crew, Friedman tackles his story with command of pacing, attention to just the right amount of detail, and expert seasoning in the form of narrative drive and appropriate background.
This is a modestly-sized book (271 pages) filled with front-of-house and kitchen workers, dishwashers, farmers, winemakers, butchers, and delivery drivers. Threads connect Wherewithal with restaurants across the US and on other continents. If at times it seems slightly relentless, well, that’s not so different from every day in a restaurant.
Hardcover. Black-and-white photos.
