A fun book that describes exactly what its like to work in the restaurant industry. Ive been out of the practice for years, butthis memoir brought me right back with all of the sights, smells, and feelings that went along with serving. Well written, easy to follow, and quick paced. It didn't change my life, but it occupied my mind for an afternoon and took me back. Id recommend it for any foodie!!

I thought this book was going to be another in a long line of snarky, Bourdain influenced, memoirs about a server. Never judge a book by Bourdain. This was so refreshing. It was a love story about a server and a restaurant. Kind of. There wasn’t the usual bashing of customers who didn’t “get” fine dining, or ugly stories about customers looks, attitudes, or tipping.

My husband is in the industry and I was interested in this because of that, and the Surly beer brand. I’ve seen good, ok, and horrible servers and Matt sounds like one of the good ones. I do know he loved The Brewer’s Table and all the work that came with it. Oh, and the cauliflower! Better than his wife!

This fascinating story of a man working in a place he loved and how it all ended was engrossing. The constant interruptions to mention his education, writing career, and teaching career, tossed me out of the story every time. I hate that, and I think he should have been more aware of breaking the mood than he was. That’s why this is a three rating. Most restaurant stories, less outside restaurant stories and this would easily be 4.5 stars.

I did really enjoy it, and I recommend it.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

This story had great potential, but I could not get past the writing and the pacing. Too many tangents and not enough concise information which would have really helped this story moving along.

Matthew Batt's "The Last Supper Club" is an intimate look at life as a waiter in a Minneapolis restaurant that soared, like so many restaurants, ever so briefly. Humanely written, Batt takes you into the world of restaurants and you can see why he loved, and loves, the job. His writing is illuminating and approachable. This is not an angry screed at all, like so many other books in this genre. Thanks to #netgalley and #univofminnesotapress for the chance to preview this book.

I thought about the workings within the hospitality industry would be interesting and that’s exactly how this turned out.
A lot of the dishes described are way out of my league and yet had me licking my lips as they were so well described.
I guess the relationship between team members is similar to any sector, still interesting to read about the pecking order, the organisation and what goes on behind closed doors.
An enjoyable read but not as amusing as I thought it might be.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I really enjoyed The last supper club written by Matt Batt who is a writer and financially strapped so he goes back to work in the restaurant industry. Its been many years since he last worked in this field but is determined to make it work.
Written with humor and details about what it is like to work in this challenging industry that unless you are involved or have worked previously in restaurants you may not understand the complexity of it.
From the beginning of the book when he works at 2 new restaurants that are run complete different, one very organized and professional and the other haphazardly,
A great cast of fellow employees that he works with are detailed in this book and keeps his story moving from page one.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
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A witty and humble tribute to the sometimes profane, sometimes profound world of waiting tables.
During a year on sabbatical from his university position, Matthew Batt realized he needed money—fast—and it just so happened that one of the biggest breweries in the Midwest was launching a restaurant and looking to hire. So it was that the forty-something tenured professor found himself waiting tables at a high-end restaurant situated in a Minneapolis brewery. And loving it.

Telling the story of Batt’s early work in restaurants, from a red sauce joint possibly run by the mob to an ill-conceived fusion concept eatery, The Last Supper Club then details his experiences at the fine dining restaurant, a job that continued well past his sabbatical—that lasted, in fact, right up to the restaurant’s sudden and unceremonious closing three years later, shortly after it was named one of the best restaurants in the country by Food & Wine.

Batt’s memoir conveys the challenge—and the satisfaction—of meeting the demands of a frenzied kitchen and an equally expectant crowd. Through training mishaps, disastrous encounters with confused diners, struggles to keep pace with far more experienced coworkers, mandatory memorizations of laundry lists of obscure ingredients, and the stress of balancing responsibilities at home and at work, The Last Supper Club reveals the ups and downs of a waiter’s workday and offers an insightful perspective on what makes a job good, bad, or great. For Batt, this job turns out to be considerably more fun, and possibly more rewarding, than his academic career, and his insider’s view of waiting tables extols the significance of our food and the places where we gather to enjoy it—or serve it.

Told with sharp humor, humility, and a keen sense of what matters, The Last Supper Club is an ode to life in a high-pressure restaurant, the relationships that get you to the night’s close, and finding yourself through—or perhaps because of—the chaos of it all.
Oh goodness, what a book. I am a serious lurker on /reddit with anything to do with “server life” as I want to see if people have gone through the same hell that I have in the past. (I personally have stories that would turn your stomach, but I will not share them….)

I found it fascinating that someone on sabbatical would need a cash infusion as sabbaticals are usually paid the same salary, but maybe that is Canada where we do 80% of our salary for four years so the 5th would be paid the remaining money while we are off mending our souls or doing research. I would also hate taking a job anywhere where I could meet up with my students: ugggggh…I have enough problems running into my patrons (and their kids) at HomeSense or the supermarket!

Food is not just fuel it is a look into our lives and our loves and our souls – and Batt has proven that serving it can be just as fulfilling. Deftly interesting, now I want to go and eat at this place but that involves a Time Machine, a passport and travel health insurance (and it is too close to Thunder Bay for the sake of my sanity and #PTSD) --- I think that perhaps Batt should stick to the world of food and service AND writing as it certainly changed who he is for the better!

#shortbutsweetreviews