Showing results by author "Stephanie Danler" in All Categories

After selling her first novel - a dream she'd worked long and hard for - Stephanie Danler knew she should be happy. Instead, she found herself driven to face the difficult past she'd left behind a decade ago: a mother disabled by years of alcoholism, further handicapped by a tragic brain aneurysm; a father who abandoned the family when she was three, now a meth addict in and out of recovery.

Twenty-two and knowing no one, Tess leaves home to begin her adult life in New York City. Thus begins a year that is both enchanting and punishing in a low-level job at “the best restaurant in New York City”. Grueling hours and a steep culinary learning curve awaken her to the beauty of oysters, the finest champagnes, the appellations of Burgundy. At the same time, she opens herself to friendships - and love - set against the backdrop of dive bars and late nights.

Tess ankommer til storbyen i sin søgen efter et liv, hun endnu ikke kan definere, men hun har et brændende ønske om at blive til nogen og høre til et sted. Hun får et eftertragtet job som tjener på en eksklusiv restaurant på Union Square og opdager, at hun træder ind i en verden med et stærkt opdelt hierarki. Hun er så grøn, at hun aldrig har smagt en østers og må nu lære de forskellige arter, de rigtige betegnelser for Bourgognevine og at værdsætte at spise terrine af svinehoved.