Another summer read, “SweetBitter,” was not what I had expected. I was drawn to the novel due to reviews on Amazon, and I also liked the pink cover, and that it was a book about a NY restaurant.  I am a big fan of NYC, I have been blessed to experience the fine dining and the wonderful electricity of the city. The blessing is going with my husband, who knows the ins and outs of the big city .

The story is about a young twenty-something girl, Tess, who decides to leave her midwestern town and drive to NYC in search of a job and a new life.  Tess does not know anyone in the City, she finds an apartment in Williamsburg, which is a neighborhood in Brooklyn.  She finds a job at an upscale restaurant in downtown Manhattan, and is hired as a back waiter.  Behind the scenes, this restaurant is bleak, the employees attend drug parties nightly after work, and it is like one big train wreck.  Tess turns to drugs, and snorts coke like there is no tomorrow. She falls for Jake, who is the bartender, is of course a druggie, and has a secret relationship with Simone, who runs the restaurant.  He is basically a liar and a male slut.

One of the positive points in the book is that the “heroine” does learn about wine and, after being promoted to a server, how to handle upscale regulars.

I am walking away knowing about the rat infestation in NYC and with a bad taste in my mouth about what goes on in the back of an upscale restaurant.  This is a sad depiction of the life of a twenty-year-old, naive and sensitive female.  This is just a novel, but it is a wake up call about our younger generation.  I am on my way to NYC next week and will pretend I never read this book.  The next book on my shelf is “Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain (more depressing facts, I’m sure)!