I did not get the point of this book. It was boring, trite, and didn't really have a point. I didn't think the writing was very good.

Selinger's Cellar Rat is an enjoyable and very dishy read -- in that it calls out bad behavior in the restaurant world and names (sometimes very famous, and still active-in-the-industry) names. But it's also a literary, considered rumination of finding yourself in your twenties; balancing work life with your personal life; discovering your passions; and sussing out your boundaries and sticking to them. I've heard it compared to Bourdain's writing, but that's not quite right. Rather than exposing the seamy underbelly not of the chef's life, Selinger's tale focuses on the various service people (front-of-house, waiters, sommeliers, hosts.) who are, if anything, subject to more abuse and indignities than the kitchen staff.

And it's a page-turner. Selinger could have easily cast this as fiction: The stories she weaves and the cast of characters she's assembled are *that* compelling. The chapters cover different episodes in Selinger's life as she moves from restaurant to restaurant, accumulating battle scars (from boyfriends, from bad bosses, and from unreasonable clients) along the way and learning bit by bit what she can and cannot tolerate. She doesn't shy away from writing about the ugliness and pain of this world -- including her own embarrassing missteps. But there's joy here too -- and Selinger's writing is evocative and propulsive. I could almost feel the swell of pride in a perfectly executed service, the heady excitement of finding herself at the epicenter of the most important city in the world, and the bone-deep exhaustion of being on her feet for 15 hours a day, every day. At times, the language -- while beautiful and lyrical (Jhumpa Lahiri, one of her writing instructors in college, is an early fan) -- can get a bit tedious as she explains for the umpteenth time how restaurants are toxic environments that are particularly dangerous for people injured by childhood traumas.

Selinger also devotes many many words to the intellectual love she harbors for wine after she tumbles into a career as a sommelier at BLT Prime, a popular steakhouse in Manhattan. The passion with which she describes the undertones of a wine -- influenced by the soil the grape is cultivated in, and the vagaries of weather it's subjected to -- makes me want to head back to Winetasting 101.

Ultimately, this is a story of a hard-fought and hard-won coming-of-age. And of making your peace with the good, the bad, and the ugly of your choices. Selinger also attended Culinary school at the tail end of her restaurant adventures and she includes a related-to-the-story recipe at the end of each chapter. For example, at the end of the chapter where she's snubbed by a famous pastry chef, there's an amazing-sounding recipe for Carrot Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. I thoroughly loved this Frankenstein hybrid of a memoir/workplace drama/call-to-arms/love-note-to-Manhattan (especially as a former New Yorker) and hope this finds a wide audience.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the ARC.

Hannah entered the restaurant industry when she was 21 years old. She spent a decade rubbing shoulders with famous chefs and celebrity guests (that she name drops—celebrities who don’t tip well, in the age of social media? Scandalous!). She learned about wine and food but was also one of the many victims of an industry that hates women and disparages the front-of-house folks like the servers and sommeliers. It was tough reading about how she was mistreated, but also how she believed the terrible things her higher ups said about her—when you’re in that environment, it’s really difficult to remind yourself you are intelligent and have talent. The horrible relationships she had with men during her decade working in restauarants were also not fun to read about.

It has a happy ending. She’s now a successful food writer with kids and a husband and a bedtime that happens at a reasonable hour instead of the wee hours of an alcohol-fueled night.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this memoir, which RELEASES MARCH 25, 2025.

As soon as I saw the comparison to Sweetbitter, I was sold on reading Cellar Rat. I love any story set in or about the restaurant world, and Hannah Selinger’s book provided the perfect insider look into fine dining in New York City in the early 2000s. I loved how this was really a book about Hannah, and she happened to work in restaurants. It is a memoir about navigating your 20s and finding a career (and losing it and finding it again), and love, and loss. I really enjoyed it. Highly recommend!

This extremely well-written book is just as spot on as Hannah's impeccable wine service.

In her brave, honest and passionate memoir, Hannah spills the tea on the "murkiness surrounding all aspects of restaurant life." She recounts just how cruel the restaurant business is and what happens when you don't toe the line.

Do you have an interest in the restaurant industry? Check out Cellar Rat by Hannah Selinger to learn what one woman went through.

Like many people, I’m interested in the restaurant business and what really goes on behind the scenes. This book is written from the perspective of a server, rather than a chef, which is more typical. The stories, however, are very similar. The hours are wretched, the pay is dismal, the work is brutal. And if you are a woman, it’s often demeaning. The author writes about the terrible incidences she experienced and being treated unfairly. But that’s not unique to the restaurant business. Discrimination and politics happens everywhere, but it seems particularly rampant in restaurants. The difference being that it seems to attract people who have a strong passion for food and are willing to deal with the difficulties. I’m glad the author found a way out!

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the ARC and my honest review.

Curiosity. That’s why most of us want to read this book. What can she tell us?

After graduating from Columbia, Hannah Selinger found jobs in restaurants and ended up becoming a sommelier. She was in her 20s with a photographic memory and could think and react quickly. However, she made mistakes along the way which meant moving on to other jobs which wasn’t easy. Some of it made me wonder why anyone would want to do this although at one point, she was making six figures at a high scale establishment and meeting celebrities.

She was on the fast track at work trying to keep up with busy evenings. It was hard to believe someone would criticize her at work for eating bread while she was on a break. He said she had to be careful with the extra calories. She ran every day and was a size 2! After each chapter, she presented a variety of special recipes which included bittersweet chocolate cream pie and carrot cake. It’s a good addition.

At the same time, Hannah talked about the relationships that didn’t work out. You know what they say: be careful or you might end up in a book like this. She was frustrated with her work and love life. She felt like it could have been related to some of her childhood issues that needed to be resolved.

Hannah's knowledge with wine and service is impressive. I didn’t find anything shocking from her stories in restaurants. Yet, it felt like I was sitting across from her in a cozy coffee shop wanting to find out more about her life. She said she’s now married with a husband and two children. Tell us more please.

My thanks to Little, Brown and Company, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of March 25, 2025.

What happens when a career you love doesn’t love you back?

Hannah Selinger knows the answer all too well.

Before she was a James Beard-nominated food writer (and the lifestyles writer who made #Scandoval happen), Selinger worked as a server, sommelier and later beverage director with/for some of New York City’s top food celebrities — Bobby Flay, David Chang and Johnny Iuzzini — in the early 2000s.

Selinger hadn’t planned on a life in the restaurant industry. She was a Columbia University graduate when she began working at a pub in Newburyport in 2002 — a means to pay the bills while figuring out her next move. A year and a DUI later, she left that gritty scene for Emerson College and an MFA program.

But in 2005, fresh out of graduate school, she’d once again answer the industry’s siren song. She was back in New York City and the job at Flay’s Bar Americain was supposed to be temporary. It was the first restaurant job (it lasted six weeks) in a cascading line of positions that made up a one-sided love affair that didn’t favor Selinger.

New York is full of restaurants and Selinger quickly found a new job. When that one didn’t work out, she found another. Along the way, she became a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and became the beverage manager for Chang’s Momofuku Group.

All of this took place during the celebrated era of “bad boy” chefs — Gordon Ramsey, Anthony Bourdain, Chang, Emma Hearst, Charlie Trotter — whose bad behavior was celebrated and ignored because of their culinary prowess.

Selinger would eventually leave the culinary world behind, but then, in 2020, Chang would publish his memoir, in which he noted his past bad behavior. Selinger responded to this in an Eater.com review of his book, in which she said he downplayed the trauma inflicted on her and other employees.

“In all my years of restaurant work, I had never seen anything like the roiling, red-faced, screaming, pulsing, wrath-filled man that was David Chang,” she wrote in the review. She writes that she heard Chang tell a 22-year-old line cook that he’d “murder [his] whole f---ing family” for cooking a subpar family meal (dinner for the staff) and berated her for a wine order in front of her staff.
“‘Who the f--k told you that you could buy this?’ he screamed. ‘Who the f--k do you think you are?’” The act, she says, was a move to tear her down, discredit her in front of the staff, and make her “less than” despite her credentials — a hallmark of the misogynist atmosphere of the industry.

Selinger’s tell-all, “Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly,” which will be released March 25, is raw and vulnerable. It is a hard look at why, she, as an intelligent woman, was sucked into the cult of restaurants, where employees are rewarded for keeping their heads down and working 12-hour days for not enough pay.

What was it that made her stay in the industry? What fueled her choices? Her bad decisions? Was it the lure of the camaraderie, the late nights, after parties and the freedom of having daytime hours to herself? Was it the trauma experienced in childhood — a relationship with her stepfather that would erupt in violence and then find her seeking his approval — affecting her as an adult? Was she repeating the cycle?

Selinger isn’t looking for a single answer and is culpable for her decisions, good and bad. But, she is looking for answers to why we have tolerated and celebrated this behavior; why we let it continue and how we put an end to it.
“Cellar Rat” is a look at how the restaurant industry, not unlike others, can be toxic, can gaslight victims into doubting themselves, how it minimizes harassment and normalizes unacceptable behavior. It also offers hope for change and offers grace to those who have been a victim of a toxic workplace.

Selinger, also a graduate of the French Culinary School, now ICC, concludes each chapter with a recipe — a bourbon and Coke bundt cake, a white Burgundy-braised chicken, filet mignon Rossini, bittersweet chocolate cream pie — inspired by the chapter’s content. I recently made the white Burgundy-braised chicken thighs made with wine, shallots, garlic, chicken stock, herbs and lemons (unfortunately, because the book is yet to be published I can’t share the recipe). The chicken is as succulent as it is beautiful; a delicious way to end my time with this memoir.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing me with this ARC.

3.5 stars.

Cellar Rat is an honest and gritty memoir that gives readers an insider’s look into the world of fine dining. Selinger’s prose brilliantly captures the chaotic energy of restaurant life, while her personal struggles and anecdotes add depth, making the book both informative and relatable.

The pacing occasionally felt slow but overall, I enjoyed reading Cellar Rat.

If you’ve worked in the restaurant industry or are curious about its inner workings, this one’s for you.

3.5 Stars

I find the inside scoop of working in restaurants some of the most fascinating accounts to read. This author's life goal was to be a writer, but things moved sideways for about a decade as she found herself working in the restaurant industry while in her 20s. She worked in some high-end restaurants and became a wine expert. The work culture was addictive and a lifestyle unto itself with schedules the opposite of most people's 9-5 work existence. This alternate work universe lent itself to breeding intimate personal relationships with restaurant personnel- always a mistake. There was also the reality of being fired at any moment with little explanation, an utter lack of empathy for private life crises, crushing double shift schedules, and working on holidays. I enjoyed reading about the NYC locales and the celebrities she encountered while working. She included a recipe at the end of each chapter. This memoir was an interesting and enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher Little, Brown and Company for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

As someone who spent 25 years in the restaurant industry, I was excited to read this book. It is an easy read that will enlighten those without service experience and have those of us 'in the know" nodding our heads in understanding. The author does an excellent job of describing her experiences and growth within the business.

Cellar Rat by Hannah Selinger chronicles Ms. Selinger’s career as a sommelier at some of the most famous establishments in New York City including David Cheng’s Momofoku. This book provided a unique perspective on misogyny in the restaurant business. The author is now a distinguished food writer and this is apparent. The book is very well written and very readable. At the end of each chapter there is a recipe which is a nice unique touch.

While I enjoyed the Cellar Rat, I did not enjoy it as much as Kitchen Confidential and some of the other memoirs of members of the food industry.

Thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fascinating book.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

4 stars.

Selinger was an employee at some of NYC’s hottest restaurants of the 1990s and experienced both the exquisite food and the terrible behavior one might expect. Now she’s telling her story and she’s naming names. Oh, boy. Gossip! Plus insider restaurant stuff. Sorry if I knocked you down getting my hands on this book.

Selinger worked under David Chang (oh, so hideous), Bobby Flay (kind to her, for the brief period she knew him), Johnny Iuzzimi and she also worked at Nick and Toni’s in the Hamptons as well as other places. It should come as a surprise to a big hunk of nobody that sexism abounds in the industry (tell me again why nearly all the “great” chefs are male when cooking is “women’s work? Such complete and utter bullshit. Wake me up when every single one of the James Beard award winners for a given year are women.)

I absolutely LOVE a memoir from a chef, a sommelier, a waiter from posh eateries and I try to read every single one I come across. The industry is endlessly fascinating to me. This book, with a large focus on what it means to be a woman in this male-driven world was readable and interesting. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

A well-paced, descriptive, critical look at the toxic and misogynistic culture of the restaurant world and a good addition to the foodie memoir genre. Since it was a raw portrayal of this world, I wish this memoir dug just a little deeper into why she stayed in such a derogatory culture for as long as she did and her responsibility to herself. Some reviews disparaged the name dropping and I found that unfair. That’s just this genre, and when you’re working at this level, these are the sorts of famous names you cross paths with.

This started promising but by the middle, I felt it was telling me what most people know about the restaurant industry from tv and great books like Kitchen Confidential. Thank you to #NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for the ARC.

Food writer, certified sommelier and culinary school graduate Hannah details her work in restaurants as a college student and adult, from Ciro and The Grog in (local to me) Newburyport, Massachusetts to New York City to the Hamptons, including famed eateries Bar Americain, Jean-George, Momofuku, and Nick & Toni's. Selinger draws back the curtain on front-of-the-house like a magician revealing their slight of hand tricks: above all, the fine-dining server should be silent, invisible, anticipatory (watch Season 2 of The Bear, especially the episode "Forks," to see this play out in Mikey's training at Michelin-starred restaurant Ever). Stories of drunk driving after shifts and getting fired after disclosing her father's terminal diagnosis are punctuated with handselling expensive bottles of wine, brilliant pairings of Budweiser beer and soft-shell crab, a lesson in eating whelk and oysters shucked by none other than Bobby Flay, and celebrities behaving badly (spoiler, but probably not a shock: Gwyneth Paltrow tipped 10% on a several thousand-dollar tab). Selinger doesn't pull punches: one lover has a girlfriend and only stays over when she's out of town; another tries to talk her into filming their sex.

The blurb (and introduction) promises an expose of the seamy underbelly of the industry, but it's nothing new for anyone who devoured Kitchen Confidential in 2000; Hannah's narrative begins in 2002 with much unchanged. We know how the long hours, low wages, and lack of sick and vacation time create an environment ripe for hedonistic pleasure-seeking: booze, drugs, sex in the wine cellar, and stealing from the till by not ringing in (or voiding out) cash transactions. Selinger experienced her share of absolutely traumatic sexual harassment, misogyny, fat-shaming, and bullying, from chefs, supervisors, colleagues, and even a female pastry chef--I believe all of it. She expertly relates the "can't see the forest for the trees" nature of trauma, describing how when you are in a toxic situation it can be difficult to extricate yourself and you can be unaware just how bad it is from inside, and why people stay in abusive situations, whether personal relationships or work ones. In the years since and thanks in part to the #MeToo movement, celebrity chefs have been called to account for their behavior; I can only imagine how triggering each new accusation and law suit could be.

The narrative is loosely arranged in a chronological order, with callbacks to previously mentioned incidents. I did find the writing uneven, repetitive in both phrasing (describing the taste of wine as pencil shavings twice is poor editing) and in re-sharing the same information. And yet, Selinger masterfully describes being allowed to eat only the heels of the delicious green olive bread she loves as a form of deprivation, both from her employer, who implies she needs to watch her weight and maybe she shouldn't be eating carbs when she's a size two) and in relation to her own low self-worth. The description of an over the top "rumination on rhubarb" dessert is exquisite, and I would have liked more of the same rich sensory detail applied across the board. Each chapter concludes with a recipe pairing for the content of the chapter, ranging from green olive bread to garlic-roasted leg of lamb with herb salsa to a bittersweet chocolate cream pie that punctuates how decadent and unnecessary rhubarb in four separate bite-sized desserts.

I received a free advance reader's review copy of #CellarRat via #NetGalley, courtesy of #LittleBrown&Company. A review will appear on HLBB on 3/25/2025

This well-written book was an opportunity to see a world I've never considered. I'm not a serious fine-diner, but it was fascinating to learn about the underbelly of that world and to experience through the life and stories of a smart, interesting woman whose passion for wine and food comes through beautifully in her writing. While the emphasis was on the restaurant experience, I also found the author's relationship with her family, particularly her father captivating. I'm sure if you are a fan of celebrity chefs, this book would be a fascinating read.

An insiders prospective of what it is like to be in the restaurant business as a wine expert. She tells her story the good, the bad and the ugly. I found this book to be honest and very entertaining and makes you appreciate seeing a side of the wine industry as a reader.