Service Included – Phoebe Damrosch

Non-Fiction
$12.56 from Amazon.com

Buy it if: You love Hell’s Kitchen, Spanglish or Thomas Keller

Don’t Buy It If: You think Ruby Tuesday’s is overpriced and too fancy

I have this weird fascination with fine dining, but I’m not sure where it comes from. Lord knows I don’t have a taste for tripe or sweetbreads. In fact, my culinary preferences run a lot more towards rustic Italian than classic French. But there’s something about the precision machines that are classic fine dining establishments that just draw me in. Maybe it’s too many episodes of Hell’s Kitchen. Or perhaps my own feeble attempts to prepare more than two dinner courses at a time have led me to this. Either way, books that pull back the metaphorical curtain that is the swinging kitchen door just suck me right in.

Of course, like restaurants, all books are not created equal. And I’d like to think that, at least in a literary sense, I have a relatively discerning palette. Hence, I have ‘no reservations’ (cue rim shot) about recommending Phoebe Damrosch’s Service Included, a memoir of her time spent as a member of the service staff at Thomas Keller’s New York eatery, Per Se. Like most of my favorite first-person experiential tales, Damrosch didn’t go looking for a book. No, she went looking for a job and the book followed and I think there’s something to be said for discovering the story, rather than seeking it out, as these tend to be the most interesting ones…

What really gives Service Included an edge over similar works is the author’s presence from the beginning of Per Se. It’s one thing to assimilate into a functioning workplace, quite another to be there for the evolution of its creation. This is unique perspective doubles the book’s ‘bang for the buck’ if you will. A behind-the-scenes look at the life and work of a fine dining waiter is fascinating enough (it ain’t like your local diner, that’s for sure) but couple this view with the process of getting such an establishment up and running, and a whole other world begins to emerge for the reader.

We learn with Phoebe as she describes the nonstop education the waitstaff receives. From daily food briefings about the menu to more in depth bits of knowledge such as – seriously – the origins of the different salts used by the kitchen, the foodiness of a fine dining front of house staff comes off as more than a little intense. And the details! Some of the author’s most fascinating anecdotes revolve around the experience that is a restaurant with a premiere chef in a premiere city. Meal courses scrapped because a guest wasn’t present at the table and it’s against policy to serve in such a situation. The honor that is being served off menu as a ‘gift’ from the chef. The astounding variety of food that can come from a tasting menu. It’s a world that has no comparison to your everyday dining experience.

Naturally, as a memoir of sorts, there’s a rich personal story as well. After all, the author is trying to succeed in what turns out to be a very intense business, and the crossover between the personal and professional lives that she portrayed is simply astounding. Never in my life have I ever considered scouring New York City for the best bone marrow dish, but this is exactly the kind of night out these high end food folks crave… And while it’s tough to relate to such a particular search, as someone who works in an industry where passion for the work often outstrips the standard desire to simply earn a paycheck, I can absolutely relate. I seek out sexy microphones and bleeding edge sound consoles with the same intensity. The consuming interest of the Per Se staff absolutely comes across and the book is all the richer for it. Intensity is tough to fake, but fortunately for us, Damrosch has done nothing of the sort.

The most telling aspect in any book like this is whether or not you find yourself wanting to make a pilgrimage to the story’s epicenter yourself when it’s over. I may never get to dine at Per Se myself (the meals are a bit on the pricey side from what I gather) but I’m hoping… Any book that not only entertains and informs during the reading - but also continue to inspire and stir the reader afterwards - is certainly one that’s well worth picking up. Especially at a cost that comes in below anything you’d find in a Thomas Keller dining room…