The Upstairs Delicatessen, Dwight Garner

A terrific read from the book critic for the NY Times. A life in food while quoting from various authors’ books who’ve written about food that he’s reviewed and read throughout the years. He hits on our lives based on eating. And who doesn’t enjoy that? Breakfast – stories on experiences with coffee, tea, cereal, eggs, biscuits, flapjacks. Lunch – stories on etiquette “Part of the companionship of being lunch companions is that you should take your wine from the same bottle.” Bottle, not a glass of wine. We move on to hotdogs, popcorn, oysters, and gout, as well as salty, fatty, crispy, and spicy: the basic food groups.. the essential building blocks for happiness. Grocery store shopping – stories on lists, produce, snacks, condiments, chicken. Interlude between meals – drinking, naps, martinis, scotch, wine. Dinner – dinner parties, dining alone, cheese “the fat man’s candy”. One thing is certain, you’ll be hungry after reading a few pages, so tread lightly.