Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater

Adventures in eating by the twelve-time James Beard Award winner: “Richman’s dry, witty prose will delight readers who crave good culinary writing.” —Library Journal

Alan Richman has dined in more unlikely locations and devoured more tasting menus than any other restaurant critic alive. He has reviewed restaurants in almost every Communist country (China, Vietnam, Cuba, East Germany) and heedlessly indulged his enduring passion for eight-course dinners (plus cheese).

In Fork It Over, Richman retraces decades of culinary adventuring. In one episode, he reviews a Chicago restaurant owned and operated by Louis Farrakhan (not known to be a fan of Jewish restaurant critics) and completes the assignment by sneaking into services at the Nation of Islam mosque, where no whites are allowed. In Cuba, he defies government regulations by interviewing starving political dissidents, and then rewards himself with a lobster lunch at the most expensive restaurant in Havana. He chiffonades his way to a failing grade at the Paul Bocuse school in Lyon, politely endures Sharon Stone’s notions of fine dining, and explains why you can't get a good meal in Boston—spurred on by the reckless passion for food that made him the only soldier he knows who gained weight while in Vietnam and carried him from his neighborhood burger joint to Le Bernardin.

“A sharp, rollicking collection of articles documenting Richman’s most memorable culinary experiences . . . An enjoyable treat full of gastronomic guffaws.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Reading Richman is like taking a brisk walk with a very funny friend.” —Entertainment Weekly

“From Shanghai to Havana to the Hamptons, Richman knows whereof he speaks, and he says it so well you can almost taste it.” —Forbes

“A very satisfying feast.” —Associated Press

© 2023 HarperCollins e-books (Ebook): 9780061743924

Release date

Ebook: 15 December 2023