I absolutely loved this book. Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for the Audiobook version. It was all I listened to until it was finished. Having worked in the restaurant business for 25 years I related to so much of what this book was about. The author did an amazing job writing as well as being the narrator.

I worked in busy restaurants for 15 years as front of the house in a variety of ways, so naturally when I saw the title “Your Table is Ready” I was immediately intrigued. Who doesn’t want to read about the nightmare that is the restaurant industry? Especially with a New York twist with celebrity clientele. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced audiobook.

As excited as I was to listen to this book, it let me down (somewhat). The first half of the book definitely gave me flashbacks and heart palpitations remembering the stress of serving tables. It also made me nostalgic for those days. I really liked how in detail the author went with the realities of the business, all while retelling his fascinating (and difficult) childhood growing up in Brooklyn. The love that Michael has for the industry shines through his writing, even at an early age.

What I did not enjoy were the stereotypes that the author explains, repeatedly, about who works in restaurants. While somewhat true that “drug addicts and criminals” work in restaurants, there are lots of women who choose to work in restaurants so that they can be home with their kids, or as a side job. Women in particular are not portrayed well throughout the book and I had a hard time getting past that.

In the end, it’s a great fast-paced and interesting memoir of the restaurant business in NYC and what happens behind the scenes. Anyone who has worked in a restaurant for a number of years can relate to a lot of what he writes about. Even though I could relate and the story was well written, the stereotypes and portrayal of women in the industry gives this memoir a three out of five stars for me.

Thanks for the opportunity to listen to this book! I was fascinated hearing about topics such as the AIDs epidemic, New York after September 11th, the pandemic, etc all within the context of the NY restaurant world.

This is a fascinating insider's look at the restaurant business, especially high-end eateries in NYC. The author has a long and varied career in the service industry, starting at the bottom and working his way to being a maître d' hotel in NYC's finest. Michael has worked in some amazing restaurants and so can provide the requisite amount of celebrity name-dropping to keep you engaged. The stories, while maybe not overly surprising, are definitely entertaining. I have to admit, I never fully understood the role of the maître'd besides just sitting people at a table. There are some rather offensive themes with drugs and how women are talked to but it may just be the temperature among waitstaff in these types of establishments but I don't think it is acceptable. While I cannot say that I enjoyed this book, it was an interesting one to read.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity.

I listened to this … I thought it was fine. No where near as good as Kitchen Confidential but still an interesting read. The stories were good and I liked hearing about some of my fav chefs and restaurants. It dragged a big and felt repetitive but I would recommend.

In this memoir, the “Tales of a New York City Maître D’” took me on a journey of all the crazy, ugly, wild, and glamorous side of the service industry.

I definitely expected more of a TMZ gossip book - the inside look of how the rich and famous act in the hottest NY restaurants…I got a LOT more than that.

From drugs and alcohol, wild nights, hookups, and the hardships of mistakes made along the way, I also got the glamor and reward of running a smooth kitchen.

It was real and raw and I appreciated the truth he told about his experience.

Thank you NetGalley and Am Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy of this book.

Overall, I gave it a 3.5 stars.

I devoured this book! Raw, primal, ludicrous, sexy sad, vulnerable, egomaniacal are words all found on the menu in Your Table is Ready. The one word you won't find there is dull. Having friends in the restaurant business., I have heard some store and witnessed some crazy things, but this takes the cake.
Michael Cecchi-Azzolina's story starts off like a movie in 1960's Brooklyn. His Italian American mother sending him to church (an alter boy, no less) while she stayed behind to make Sunday dinner for his aunts and uncles. leaving aside a few meatballs for him to eat when he returned home. His father was not in the picture. Never discussed as he grew up. .Still, he was surrounded by family and friends with gangsters mixed in, sometimes unbeknownst to the young Michael. I could visualize it all.
We follow Michael on his journey from helping out at the neighborhood luncheonette - sweeping, cleaning, stocking the shelves - anything to be around the hub of the community. Then one day he got his big break when he was told to man the soda station. That was it, he had made it.
NYC dining in the 1980's is a character all it's own., The drugs, the celebrities, the sexual freedoms that the restaurant scene provided was all too quickly overshadowed by the AIDS epidemic. Michael tells the tales of friends made and lost during theses times as he continued to move up the ranks to better positions in better restaurants - Michelin stars and all..
Another passion for Michael was acting. He took writing and acting classes and earned a MFA from Harvard in Theater as well as a BA from Florida University in English. All of this has served him well as the narrator of his own book.. Cecchi-Azzoliona is so expressive and the book so well written that listening to Your Table is Ready is like attending a captivating small theater one man play.
If you like The Bear on Hulu or Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential you will not want to miss listening/reading Your Table is Ready.

My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio recording in exchange for my honest review.

Excuse the awful pun, but I totally ate this book up. Maybe because I'm generally curious (nosey), but I love when books explore jobs and lifestyles that are different from my own. The writer gives a detailed behind the scenes look into the New York City restaurant industry over his 30+ year career. Your Table is Ready contains similarities to Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, but it's personalized enough that it really is its own unique account.

I loved the celebrity name-dropping, the shocking prevalence of drugs and alcohol in the '80s and '90s, and the amusing stories with guests and restaurant staff. These were well-balanced with some more serious sections in which AIDS was running rampant, and the aftermath of 9/11 cast a shadow on the entire city.

This book was a ton of fun to read, and I'd recommend it to any foodie out there.

Book Title: You Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maitre D’
Author: Michael Cecchi-Azzolina
Narrator: The Author
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Non Fiction, Memoir, Food
Pub Date: December 6, 2022
My Rating: 3.4 Stars!

I seldom read Memoirs but this sounded like a fun read.

This is a memoir by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina- who tells all. In the 80s he was a career Maître D’ Hotel (Master of the House) at some of New York City's hottest and most in-demand restaurants. He was born into the mafia and grew up in Brooklyn.
His anecdotes were entertaining ~ however. at times sad but still interesting.

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for granted me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for December 6, 2022

I love a restaurant memoir! Sex, drugs, celebrities, food…I am always in! This one intrigued me because the focus is on the front of the house and not the kitchen. The author is a career mâitre d’hotel who has worked in the hottest restaurants in NYC. He tells us how restaurants really run, why there are open tables when you are told the restaurant is booked, and how to palm the mâitre d’hotel to get the table by the window. Of course there are celebrity appearances, including an unflattering portrayal of the Duchess of Sussex, and the fraudster, Anna Delvey (Sorokin). Loved hearing the author read his own story. Read this if you liked: Kitchen Confidential, Sweetbitter, anything by Ruth Reichl, Notes From a Young Black Chef, Yes, Chef.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook read by the author. I really enjoyed the behind the scenes look into restaurants in New York City. This book covers Michael’s career starting in the 1980s through present day, and how the culture, coworkers and guests have changed through the years. I’d definitely recommend!

We've traveled a lot to NYC so when I saw the title and the description of this book I knew it would be interesting - because, well lets face it, there are some interesting people in NYC LOL

"Your Table Is Ready" is a memoir written by Michael Cecchi- Azzolina over a long career as a maître d' in New York City. I was very excited to read this book written by someone who worked in the restaurant industry for so many years. I really enjoyed his vivid descriptions of working in the different restaurants and the interesting people that he worked with and served. I disliked the beginning of the book and felt that it moved too slowly. I appreciated that he stated that although we are living in a different time, he wanted to represent how life truly was; however, some of his descriptions of women were offensive.

Thank you Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for allowing me to review this audiobook arc

*3.75 Stars*

Your Table is Ready is almost an amazing book, but it lacks clarity in storytelling. If you were to ask what the book is about, the reader would have a hard time articulating a succinct narrative. The overall storyline is disjointed, with the timeline of events shifting in such a way that you aren't really sure if the story is linear or stream of consciousness. There are plot points that were picked up, only never to be revisited. Major life events, such as addiction, children, marriage, etc., are breezed by, leaving you scratching your head as to why they were added in at all. Other parts are told with such detail and pizzazz that they elicited raucous laughter from me. There are stories with an incredulous air as only wild tales of the 70s and 80s can have for those who didn't live through them. (And I didn't.)

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina is clearly a relic of a bygone era, and the language in this book reflects that. There are slurs, and f-words abound, so consider yourself warned. For me, it makes the book atmospheric, indicative of the time. For others, the language will be downright offensive, and I suspect it will take them out of the book and have them relegate it to a DNF pile. But what makes the book disjointed is also part of its charm. It feels like a conversation (albeit one-sided) with a patron that you might meet in one of the very bars and restaurants he talks about. Regaling you with the good old days of service, peppered with strong opinions on how everything now has gone to crap.

While Cecchi-Azzolina's story is rough around the edges, one thing that truly shines through is how much he cared (and still cares) about the restaurant industry and its people. Every chance he gets, he reminds the reader of the diligence, drudgery, and dedication it takes to day in a day out serve the public. Especially when a goodly portion of people believe the profession and the people doing it are beneath them. He humanizes the positions in a way that so many overlook if you have never worked in food service. And if for no other reason, that makes this worth the read, or in my case, the listen.

Okay, let me first say the audibook for this is WAY worth it. I love that the author read it and had the brooklyn accent to boot. I thought this was entertaining for sure. All the stories seemed wild and I appreciate that Azzolina repeated mentioned the #metoo movement and how that was a different time/things have gotten better. It just got to the point where it felt repetitive at times. He gets a job at a restaurant, he meets the raucous band of co-workers, they do wild stuff, rinse, and repeat.

I think the audiobook is the only way to read this book!

Hands down the best restaurant-industry memoir I’ve read! I was absolutely cackling one minute, cringing the next and welled up by the time I got to “the award” moment. You don’t need to have experienced the joyful abuse of restaurant service to enjoy the book- it’s a decadent spilling of the tea from a man who has literally seen it all- and we all love a good gossip sesh. But the thing that I loved the most was the overall heart of the book. It felt like a hilarious warm hug! I couldn’t stop listening, and as I finished wrapping up the epilogue, I felt sad it was ending. Michael Cecchi-Azzolina left a huge impression in my heart.

this one was not quite what I thought it was going to be .. vulgar, profane language and wide-open sexual details. I had hoped for more of the restaurant, the food, the personalities that come with kitchen to table stories. Fully respect this was Michael's story. It was just not the one for me.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The Author Michael Cecchi-Azzolina provided the narration and he did a wonderful job. It added authenticity to the story. The Brooklyn accent, changing of voices for different characters, impersonating the French Chefs were all very well done. I am glad I listened to the book. I believe it made it more enjoyable.
Michael takes us along his wild ride of restaurant life. Starting from the beginning as a young boy helping mobsters, his first job, and ultimately Owner. This book is a very entertaining look into a lifestyle I know very little about. I enjoyed the knowledge I gained about the industry. Some of the stories so outrageous I listened jaw open shaking my head.
You don’t have to have worked in a restaurant to enjoy this book. You will walk away with knowledge and awareness. The Author explains how not to act and how your tip affects their ability to survive. You will always look at a waiter with an apron in wonder. Never look at butter the same and appreciate the people who serve you.
My sincere condolences for the large amount of loss during your 35 years in the service industry.

The author's attitude was just insufferable -- I couldn't get into this. I didn't finish it.

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When I pickup a non-fiction book about restaurants and serving, I want to hear about that. I do not spend multiple chapters hearing about the author's childhood, first. While I appreciate he made the effort to connect his childhood to his eventual career (e.g. serving his uncles as a child) it still felt like out of place and unwelcomed for this book title, even if his childhood and that era of NYC are fascinating.

Once we moved into his life in restaurants, it became more interesting, though I felt much of it could have been paired down and I also got annoyed when he (again) became sidetracked and made this more of a personal memoir. I did enjoy hearing about restaurant antics and the people in them, and the descriptions of NYC at the time, but didn't really care to hear about his girlfriends, or whatever personal life stuff he kept sharing. Again, I wanted to hear about life in a restaurant.

By 40% I couldn't read about dicks and cocaine anymore and gave up. I read a memoir by a LA bar tender some years ago and really enjoyed it, even though he didn't name drop and it set the bar too high I think.

I absolutely adored this book! A must read for anyone that has ever worked in the service industry, it’s totally juicy and scandalous,, but manages to still have a ton of heart! One of the most entertaining books I’ve read this year!! A must read memoir of 2022!!