Workhorse by Kim Reed

I had a hard time picking a rating for this, and in the end it may be on the harsh side because I was expecting this to be more about food, when in fact it is about the author herself, her slow growth into adulthood, her own prejudices that got in the way of her seeking a job that would allow her to pay off her student loans rather than staying with work that she didn't love and did not pay the bills, and her continued inability to see how that continued to hamstring her the longer she worked with the Joe and Mario show. I suspect she got the book contract because she was employed by them for so long and was willing, on some level, to dish, but it isn't really dirt so much as a critique of the whole structure that underpins the high end restaurant business. I read a review that called it a wistful insider's story and that sums it up. The author started working at Babbo when she was in college, mostly as a coat checker or manning the reservation line, but then after literally years, she became Joe Bastianich's executive assistant. So she went everywhere and saw everything, but not from the chef's side of the table. There is a lot of name dropping, and she got valuable lessons I have no doubt, but she does not paint a picture that is enticing. She does describe her own motivations, seeking a seat at the table--which she got--but in the end it wasn't enough.