“Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D’” by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina
2022/St. Martin’s Press
$29.99/288 pages
Back in the 1980s, the restaurant industry was “composed of misfits and losers, artists and drunks... some of the greediest and most narcissistic people... counterbalanced with the most generous... people on the planet,” says Michael Cecchi-Azzolina, in his book detailing his time as a maitre d’ in some of New York’s high-end restaurants.
Working with them gave him a chance to meet “the richest, the most powerful, the most celebrated” people in the world. He seated them, served them and kicked some of them out of the building permanently. He partied with coworkers, working his way up in various places from back room to front of house, helping open a few famous restaurants, witnessing as others closed.
The first thing you want to know about “Your Table is Ready” is that it’s on the raunchy side—a little bit Animal House, a little bit Caddyshack, plus profanity, alcohol and drugs.
The second thing you’ll want to know is that it’s really fun to read. Michael Cecchi-Azzolina regales readers with tales of what happens in the cutthroat (but entwined) high-end restaurant business.
It’s a tasty tale that’s hilarious in the spilled details and gossipy tidbits about things we only suspect about the gonzo work side of the industry.
Stories of spoiled and entitled customers make for a nice, realistic addition. This peek behind the cooktop is delicious and if you love dining out, it can’t be missed.