A clever summer-adventure tale.
San Francisco foodie Shalleck pleasantly recreates his sweat-and-glamour season toiling as chef on a yacht cruising the Côte d’Azur.
At the time, he was an upstart young cook trying to work his way into a position as head of the kitchen in a name restaurant. After a good start at smart spots like The River Cafe and An American Place in New York, and Campton Place in San Francisco, he used his acquaintance with Alice Waters to land an apprenticeship in Provence with her colleague Natalie Waag, who quickly dismissed him for not cooking from the heart. Slinking off to Italy, Shalleck worked as an intern at numerous small restaurants from Tuscany to Lazio in order to master the local cuisines. Four years later, il Americano landed a plum job as chef on the 124-foot schooner Serenity, owned by an elegant, very rich Italian couple who planned to spend the summer yachting on the Riviera. La Signora, imperious and inflexible, demanded menus that reflected the abundance of indigenous offerings in each port of call: lots of fish, no meat, little pasta, no repeats! Her husband, by contrast, sometimes slipped into the galley while she napped to share pasta and marinara sauce with the polyglot crew (Brits, français and an American captain). Shalleck found the work challenging and often arduous as he tried to create masterpieces for large dinner parties in a tight galley kitchen. He also found his repertoire broadened by shopping for and learning to prepare such local foods as bianchetti (tiny fish), tartufi di mare (sea truffles), treccia (braids of mozzarella) and cernia (grouper). He took the job seriously, enjoyed camaraderie with French party-boy steward Rick and earned accolades for his menus—many included in the back of the book. Among the life lessons he imbibed: Hold the avocados (too strange for the Italians), and never confuse foie gras with pâté.
A clever summer-adventure tale.Pub Date: May 22, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2048-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Broadway
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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