Jan Agg owns bars
and restaurants. Perhaps the one most people have heard of is The
Black Hoof in Toronto. It’s a restaurant and bar that specializes
in charcuterie. I have never been to a bar specializing in serving a
selection of spicy meats, but it sounds delicious.
The book is the
story of how Jen found her passion in developing and owning great
restaurants. It’s not an easy life to provide delicious food for a
varied clientele, but according to Jen, it can be very satisfying.
The story covers her early life, first marriage, and subsequent
success in the restaurant business with her second husband. I enjoyed
the history. It’s good to read about people overcoming obstacles to
achieve success, However, I found the amount of time devoted to her
early life less interesting than the rest of the book.
My favorite chapters
were the first two where she describes her method of running a
restaurant and takes you behind the scenes to discuss how she expects
her servers to act and how she keeps the restaurant functioning at
top speed
.
The author has a
great many opinions and is not afraid to share them This makes the
book fun to read. She’s also quite open about her sexual
experiences. This doesn’t have much to do with her success as a
restaurateur, so if you’re offended by her frankness, you can skip
those parts.
I recommend this
book. It’s a lively memoir and gives a very interesting picture of
the restaurant and bar business. I found myself looking more
carefully at the service in the restaurants I enjoy.
I received this book
from Viking/Penguin for his review.
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