Sweetbitter

A startling and stylish novel for anyone who has ever been in love and who loves food

'Let's say I was born when I came over the George Washington Bridge...' This is how we meet unforgettable Tess, the twenty-two-year-old at the heart of this stunning first novel. Shot from a mundane, provincial past, she's come to New York to look for a life she can't define, except as a burning drive to become someone, to belong somewhere.

After she stumbles into a coveted job at a renowned restaurant, we spend the year with her as she learns the chaotic, punishing, privileged life of a 'backwaiter' on duty and off. Her appetites - for food, wine, knowledge, and every kind of experience - are awakened. And she's pulled into the magnetic thrall of two other servers - a handsome bartender she falls hard for, and an older woman she latches onto with an orphan's ardour. These two and their enigmatic connection to each other will prove to be Tess's hardest lesson of all. Sweetbitter is a story of discovery, enchantment and the power of what remains after disillusionment.

About the Author

Stephanie Danler attended Kenyon College and received her MFA in Fiction from The New School. Upon arriving in New York she reluctantly turned down an entry level job at a publishing house (upon learning the salary was incommensurate with paying rent) and found work as a backwaiter in Union Square Cafe. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Review by Caroline Baum

Imagine the love child of Anthony Bourdain and Ruth Reichl, my two favourite writers about restaurant culture. That’s who Danler is. You can tell from the first paragraph that this is going to be food writing strong on flavour - and not just any flavour, but that most intriguing and complex of tastes called umami, the savoury salty one found in parmesan and anchovies, mushrooms and Vegemite.

Danler has written a satisfyingly meaty coming of age story set in the sex and drugs demimonde of New York restaurant culture. But instead of focusing on the staff in the kitchen, her tribe are the waiters and front of house staff. Having worked at the achingly hip Union Square Cafe herself, she knows whereof she speaks; there is a totally believable authenticity to the professional banter and professional jockeying of the crew that her fictional heroine Tess longs to belong to.

One of the many well observed aspects of this working environment is how the status of a waiter’s job has improved: once considered a menial job, now it’s a coveted position. Danler is very funny about Tess’ job interview and does a great job in a scene of widespread panic when a health department inspection is about to take place. Tess is an endearing if somewhat sex obsessed character (but then she is twenty two and the kitchen is a space charged with sexual tension and pheromones), confiding her inadequacies and insecurities (such as her total ignorance and awe when it comes to winespeak) to the reader in a tone of appealing intimacy. If she’d been my waitress, I’d have wanted to leave her a very big tip.