Dining Out: Secrets from America's Leading Critics, Chefs, and Restaurateurs

by Andrew Dornenburg, Karen Page

This book is the first of its kind to examine what defines fine food in America and it introduces us to many individuals who shape our views about food. Using other successful Dornenburg/Page books as a model, the authors once again base their analysis on interviews with chefs, restaurateurs and critics. This insider's guide to the process of restaurant reviewing will excite anyone with a serious interest in food. It also features top sites on the Internet that provide restaurant reviews. 'If I were a restaurateur, I would expect all my staff to read this book. As a restaurant critic, I found it a fascinating insight into the minds of other critics and more especially the minds of some of the people who are serious about running a restaurant.'

Genres: Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Writing

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 1998

About the author

Andrew Dornenburg is a James Beard Award-winning author whose influential work in culinary literature has helped shape modern American food writing. Alongside his wife and writing partner, Karen A. Page, Dornenburg has co-authored numerous acclaimed books, including Becoming a Chef, Culinary Artistry, The Flavor Bible, and What to Drink with What You Eat. Their books have garnered numerous accolades, including honors from the James Beard Foundation, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. A former marathon runner and Culinary Institute of America honorary ambassador, Dornenburg is known for his thoughtful approach to the intersection of food, flavor, and the dining experience. Despite living with dyslexia, he has built a celebrated career in publishing. Dornenburg and Page live in New York City, where they continue to influence chefs, sommeliers, and home cooks around the world.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Dining Out' gives a glimpse at the world of restauarant ratings, reviewers, and chefs. In addition to giving insight on how critics rate restuarants and how chefs think about food, the author teaches the reader to evaluate their own experiences at restaurants and how to improve their enjoyment of eating out.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little guide to everything restaurant-related. The format is colorful and full of charts, pictures, graphs, quotations, and the distracting attention-grabbers to be expected in modern textbook. Also textbook-like is its attempt to be authoritative and comprehensive, presenting multiple points of view on issues like restaurant reviewing and denying authorial bias.

Definitely not something you sit down and devour, novel-like, for the sake of enjoyment. But an interesting read, nonetheless.

(Page 47 has a typo. "New Yrok" is not a place, Dornenburg and Page. Please rectify this in future editions.)

[Richard Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my favorite thing to do. Eat out. In addition to eating out, you all know that I am heavily involved in the industry itself, so a book like this is like secret gold. Filled with so much insight on the secret lives of food critics; mostly dealing with their personal experiences in restaurants around the world with a heavy concentration on New York and Los Angeles. If you like Jonathan Gold, you will appreciate this read!!!!!!!!

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading it again for the second time. This book makes you want to cook gourmet food and it also teaches you how to critically evaluate the food you eat. It also provides insight into how food critics evaluate restaurants and their biases.

[Stuart Lew]

Great ideas for restaurants to visit. Been to Alice Water's in S.F.