Table Talk

The first collection of food writing by Britain s funniest and most feared critic A A Gill knows food and loves food A meal is never just a meal It has a past a history connotations It is a metaphor for life A A Gill delights in decoding what lies behind the food on our plates famously his reviews are as much ruminations on society at large as they are about the restaurants themselves So alongside the concepts customers and cuisines ten years of writing about restaurants has yielded insights on everything from yaks to cowboys picnics to politics TABLE TALK is an idiosyncratic selection of A A Gill s writing about food taken from his Sunday Times and Tatler columns Sometimes inspired by the traditions of a whole country sometimes by a single ingredient it is a celebration of what great eating can be an excoriation of those who get it wrong and an education about our own appetites Because it spans a decade the book focuses on A A Gill s general dining experiences rather than individual restaurants food fads tipping chefs ingredients eating in town and country and abroad and the best and worst dining experiences Fizzing with wit it is a treat for gourmands gourmets and anyone who relishes good writing