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'This astonishing book describes a cruel, feral existence and is worthy of standing on the shelf next to George Orwell's Down And Out In Paris And London (1933) as another classic about human exploitation.'
– Daily Mail, Book of the Week

‘Visceral and unbelievably compelling’
– Emerald Fennell

‘Kitchen Confidential for Generation Z’
– Fortune Magazine

‘Immersive and often thrilling. By all accounts he learned the métier and was a capable waiter. He’s a fine writer.’
– Benjamin Shull, The Wall Street Journal

‘Ah Paris… gastronomie magnifique and… insane shit going on behind the scenes … jaw-dropping experiences whilst serving tables in the French capital’
– the Evening Standard

‘A Dickensian tale of a young man’s trial by fire in a French bistro gives rise to biting commentary on Parisian culture in Chisholm’s intoxicating debut’
– Publishers Weekly

‘‘This tough little book documents the experience of being a foreign worker, lost in the understrata of the often exploitative industry from which we benefit.’
– the Financial Times

‘An excellent book ... A sharp reminder that a restaurant is so much more than a room full of tables, but it’s better to not pick at what lies beyond the illusion of culinary sophistication’ – Strong Words

‘A portrait of Paris is painted by a waiter in this candid memoir that forces you to take off your rose-colored glasses to see the complicated truth of the city.’
– Town and Country Magazine

‘A millennial homage to predecessors such as Anthony Bourdain and Down and Out in Paris and London of the 21st Century gig economy.’
– Globe & Mail

"A moving tale of a young British man who moves to Paris."
–The New York Post, "Best books of 2022"

‘Emily in Paris this is not.’
– Eater

‘Throwing open the vibrant underbelly of the City of Light in all its depraved, degenerate and dangerously addictive magnificence’
– Waterstones

‘Vividly written and merciless in its detail’
– Edward Stourton, BBC Radio 4

‘An enlightening view of the underworld of fine French dining’
– Kirkus Reviews

‘A fascinating book, full of anecdotes that would sound far-fetched in a work of fiction, but that are all absolutely true’
– Woman & Home

‘One of the best travel books published this summer.’
- The Times of Malta

‘In [Chisholm’s] keen-eyed, unsentimental writing, few human foibles and frailties go unremarked upon.’
- Booklist

‘I lOVED THIS BOOK.’
– Reverend Richard Coles

‘An absorbing and moving inside look at a Parisian restaurant.’
– Library Journal

‘Much like Orwell, Chisholm sees his restaurant as not just a restaurant, but a portrait of France itself, with the rich and white on top, the poor and Black down below and everyone else, including his readers, in between.’
– Winnipeg Free Press

‘A book to make time fly by!’
– Business Traveller magazine

‘Book of the Month’
– Hatchards

Through Chisholm's punchy prose, readers will be taken through his whirlwind career filled with angry knife-wielding chefs, demanding customers, squalid living conditions and panic attacks in the Pass.
- Salon Magazine, “Best books of 2022”

Amazon

Selected as Hatchard’s Book of the Month

Fortune Magazine, Most Anticipated Reads of 2022