We recorded this podcast inside the glorious brasserie Bofinger, seated beneath their Belle Époque glass-stained cupola. But as the author notes, the waiters are actors--they give you a grand experience where you are treated like royalty, providing a bridge between the storyland of the dining room and the hell that is the kitchen, locker room, and the Pass.

Chisholm has a great knack for capturing the essence of the individuals who make up this story and are the fabric of Paris - with each stratum represented, worts and all. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.A young Englishman’s journey into the merciless world of Parisian restaurants is propulsive, harrowing, and expertly observed. Chisholm renders the City of Light in vivid scenes of squalor and splendor, its romance and wretchedness mirroring that of the “great piece of theater” he starred in before eventually leaving the restaurant himself.

Mine is a world in which the boundaries get tighter and tighter until you can’t really see beyond it. The hours are long, the work is hard, harder still if, like Chisholm, French is not a native language. A Waiter in Paris had me hooked, after reading the Introduction and the Amuse-Bouche, I felt compelled to read on.The ultimate Valentine's Day countdown - here are 10 romantic gestures to help sweep your partner off their feet! Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. To become a subscriber to Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly Magazine, please visit our subscriptions page. Ryan Gosling shrugs off Barbie Oscars drama with loving kiss from daughter and support from wife Eva Mendes.

Edward Chisholm’s memoir of his time as a waiter in Paris goes below the surface of the city and right into its glorious underbelly. As a waiter, Chisholm was ‘always terrified of losing [his] job’ — and France itself ought to be terrified of losing a key part of its culture.

Resourceful doesn’t cut it when thinking about a way to describe him – he’s that but also determined, strong-willed, smart and a fighter who slowly works his way up the ranks from “runner” to fully-fledged waiter. Chisholm’s fortitude in the face of hot-headed, violent chefs and infernal fourteen-hour days without breaks in pursuit of his goal is admirable, and makes for compelling reading. At another restaurant I went multiple times as the food was so good and one waiter was very friendly; I remember offering him a glass of Burgundy which he dutifully put on the bar for later and the manager promptly pounced on it and drank it off in a heartbeat. Having lived in France, much of what's reported rings true and the social commentary is pretty apt, even if there are a couple of stretches made with comparisons. It is forbidden to copy anything for publication elsewhere without written permission from the copyright holder.