And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. For Bemelmans was 'the man who came to cocktails'. Spicy and sweet by turns, with crackle and bite throughout.Īn extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. And then there’s the food: Reichl excels at making long-gone meals live vividly on the page. Reichl also discusses her disrupted family life. Here, some characters are disguised, while others, such as her predecessor Bryan Miller, whose campaign against her was revealed in the gossip column of the New York Post, are right out in the open. A casual Californian, she widened the paper’s scope to include as many truly fine restaurants as she could find, touting soba, bulgogi and sushi to readers more accustomed to reading about Continental cuisine. As Molly Hollis, she had a dreadful experience at Le Cirque, prompting her to take away the restaurant’s fourth star. She also dressed up as a flamboyant redhead, a nearly invisible elderly lady, and her own inimitable mother. Her first role was as the fictional Molly Hollis to achieve the transformation, Reichl donned the wig, suit, padding and makeup she imagined for the character of a midwestern, middle-aged, former schoolteacher.

In response, Reichl embarked on a cloak-and-dagger-or wig-and-pseudonym-campaign that she carried on through her tenure at the paper.

Almost immediately, her photo was posted in restaurant kitchens across the city. Before working at the Times, Reichl was quite happy writing restaurant reviews at the Los Angeles Times she was wooed and won in spite of her misgivings. Some readers might pause at the thought of a third volume of memoirs from a woman not even through her middle age, but for foodies with a penchant for the inside scoop, Reichl’s behind-the-scenes stories of the Gray Lady deliver the goods.

Tasty revelations of Gourmet magazine editor Reichl’s undercover antics as the former food critic at the New York Times.

Garlic and sapphires