Popovers and Candlelight: Patricia Murphy and the Rise and Fall of a Restaurant Empire

Biederman, Marcia

ISBN 10: 1438471548 / ISBN 13: 9781438471549

Published by State University of New York Pre, 2018

About this Item

Cover and edges may have some wear.

Seller Inventory # mon0004120763

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Popovers and Candlelight: Patricia Murphy and the Rise and Fall of a Restaurant Empire
• Publisher: State University of New York Pre
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1438471548
• ISBN 13: 9781438471549
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Recounts the true story of an entrepreneurial woman who succeeded in a male-dominated industry in the twentieth century.

What would you do with your last sixty dollars? If you were Patricia Murphy you'd turn it into a fortune by buying a rundown Brooklyn diner. On the cusp of the Great Depression, the diner became an overnight sensation, the first of nine popular Patricia Murphy's Candlelight Restaurants that opened over the course of four decades in New York and Florida. Popovers and Candlelight recounts how Murphy bucked Mad Men–era sexism in a male-dominated field and created remarkable dining experiences with solid American fare, a talented staff, and eye-popping décor. Dripping in diamonds, she transcended ethnic prejudices to become a socialite and built a brand that sold fragrance as well as food. Mutinous siblings, a desperate manager, and a typhoid outbreak brought it all to an operatic end, but Marcia Biederman restores Murphy and her contributions to their proper place in women's and culinary history. This book will delight readers with its rags-to-riches story and fascinating view of class, gender, ethnicity, and food culture during much of the twentieth century.

About the Author

Marcia Biederman teaches English as a Second Language at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, and has been a frequent contributor to the New York Times.