Feeding Frenzy: Across Europe in Search of the Perfect Meal - Hardcover

Stevens, Stuart

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871136872 ISBN 13: 9780871136879

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr, 1997

Synopsis

A popular travel writer and his female weight-lifting partner, fashion maven, and gourmand embark on a madcap tour of all of the Michelin three-star restaurants in Europe--twenty-nine eateries in twenty-nine days--in a red Mustang.

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Reviews

Stevens, political consultant and author of whimsical travelogues (Malaria Dreams, 1989, etc.), accepts the formidable challenge of dining in all 29 of the Michelin three-star restaurants in Europe on consecutive nights, and lives to tell the story. He embarks on his lunatic quest in the company of Rat, a glamorous and bright lady whose boyfriend has offered to pick up the tab--if they do the 29 restaurants in 29 nights. Off they set in a 1965 Mustang convertible, seemingly used more for its comic possibilities than because of its virtues. From one hotsy-totsy eating house to the next, Stevens and Rat indulge in over-the-top gustatory concoctions prepared by the likes of Bocuse, Loiseau, and the other great heroes of European cuisine. There's no stinting in meals that often dictate a crise cardiaque as the final entry on the bills of fare. The hungry author offers his assured takes on the master chef, the maitre d', and the waiters of each establishment, as well as the cunning of the menus, not to mention the meals. Befitting places where, as the old tag line has it, the elite meet to eat, the chow is emphatically Francophilic. How about a taste of ``La Griblette de Bar aux Rondelles d'Oignon Meunier,'' or a bit of a ``tomate confite a l'huile d'olive et gros sel, mesclun d'ici, au gout mediterrane, pommes de terre moelleuses et croustillantes''? After five lines of such, Stevens says, with a straight face, that there ``was a simple directness about the menu that was vastly appealing.'' To add to the mystique, this frou-frou is generally sans traduction. The food writing isn't quite as nourishing as that of Calvin Trillin, Waverly Root, or A.J. Liebling (to whom Stevens pays appropriate respect); it's more of a lark in the Bertie Wooster mode, and cosmopolitan to a fault. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Renaissance man Stevens counts journalism, novels, television script writing, and political consulting among a long list of accomplishments. His most recent adventure, recounted here, is an uproariously entertaining gastronomic trek across Europe's most exclusive three-star restaurants, with the ambient mood created, in large part, by ongoing commentary about an ailing red Mustang shipped from the U.S. for the journey. Extravagant meals, combined with the endless travails of the car and the outrageous behavior of a traveling companion who calls herself Rat, a woman with a penchant for stylish accoutrements, make for a thoroughly engaging if incredibly elitist travelogue. Alice Joyce

The subtitle here is a bit misleading. Although Stevens and his female lawyer friend, "Rat," do indeed indulge their culinary dreams in England, Belgium, Germany, France, and Italy?at her generous boyfriend's expense?the wacky side of travel writing is the real point. Suitable reference is made to such gastronomical heroes as Waverly Root and Escoffier, and when the author provides translations (one wishes he did more), the menus will make your mouth water. Nevertheless, the book lacks the passionate elitism of Roy Andries de Groot's works, e.g., In Search of the Perfect Meal (St. Martin's, 1986), or the elegant enjoyment of M.F.K. Fisher. In the end, Stevens essentially recounts the pleasures of an odyssey with irrepressible Rat in some of Europe's great food capitals. Complete with a happy ending, this book is like an updated 1940s movie spoof. Recommended as entertaining travel reading.?Wendy Miller, Lexington P. L., Ky.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0871136872
• ISBN 13: 9780871136879
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 265