Novel People Of Eastover discussion

Delving into Ruth Reichl's book "Garlic and Sapphires" as she takes us on a culinary journey through many of NYC's famous and not so famous restaurants.

By using disguises, Ruth is able to slip into the world of the “ordinary” diner. She can see
what each restaurant will serve to the patrons who seem to be nobodies. Why is important that
she has this type of experience in a restaurant? Do you feel this allows her to write an objective
review?

Reichl creates wildly innovative disguises. Which disguise is your favorite?

I think that her approach by using disguises is great because she is absolutely correct about stating the fact that restaurants (and other places) will bring out the best they have to offer if the customer is an important person. I remember when I was working at the movie theater and we were sometimes told that a secret shopper was coming in to our particular theater, on those days we were supposed to keep the theater spotless and cater to anybody who looked rich and important (why would somebody of those qualities be at the theater I have no idea). Disguises are important because then you can see and experience how places act when they are not "acting" and in those moments it can be an enlighten experience because how you are treated will determine what you will spend or not spend in a store. I think my favorite disguise was Brenda, she was a very happy bubbly person who seem to think the best out of any situation and Ruth's way of describing that character and scene was one of the happy highlights of the book.

What could be better than discussing a book that centers around food, while partaking of food made from recipes in the book? The Novel People of Eastover could think of nothing as they did just that in their December meeting.
Rachel Reichl's "Garlic and Sapphires" was a great start to the holiday season. Her humor and wit were well appreciated by everyone. Many in the group felt Reichl gave them the experience of five star dining without ever having to leave their living room.
The book earned an average 4.2 stars out of five from our group.