Cellar Rat

"Selinger writes thoughtfully about the nature of labor, especially the unseen variety behind a charismatic figurehead, and the dire personal sacrifices that too many jobs require of their workers. … To readers, Selinger is strikingly forthcoming about this industry she loved, one that also harmed her. Far from a takedown of dining culture, Cellar Rat is a book about laying bare the flaws of something you love with bracing honesty, in hopes that it can one day become better.”

"Full of timely, sharp criticism as well as the gossipy, tell-all quality that draws so many people to restaurant memoirs.”

“A brutally honest, courageous, and powerful personal look into the dark side of the restaurant world. Hannah shows us how the imbalance of power rests on a manipulative system that willfully neglects the people it employs and makes you question if the industry truly can and wants to change for the better.”

“With unflinching candor and clear-eyed wisdom, Hannah Selinger compresses the thrill, toxicity, and terror of working in restaurants into a remarkably open-hearted memoir. Cellar Rat should be essential reading for anyone who cares about this industry and the people who keep it running."

“If you're going to write about the reality of working in restaurants in a way that's anywhere near accurate, you need two things: The courage to burn bridges and keen social observation skills and the ability to translate those into engaging prose. Hannah Selinger has both, as she demonstrates with finesse, humor, and sensitivity in Cellar Rat. I admire her commitment to truth-telling as much as I do her appreciation for the seemingly trivial but ultimately revealing details that are necessary for capturing the glamor, decadence, volatility, and abusiveness that define the dining industry.”

"In Cellar Rat, Hannah Selinger chronicles a time when chefs were thought to be rock stars and dining out was a show—but she tells the truth of living strange hours, dealing with misogyny, and encountering rage in an industry that never loves its workers back. Yet beauty is woven throughout, in prose that mimics the propulsive energy of a busy shift."
 

“Selinger’s vivid prose makes each chapter compulsively readable as she tells her story of life in restaurants.”

“Cellar Rat, which recounts Hannah Selinger’s years as a server and sommelier in the seedy world of high-end New York restaurants, is a damn good read. Selinger’s writing about the restaurant industry is sharp, unsparing, and at times very funny, and her insights about her own life and experiences display admirable levels of candor and understanding. A thoroughly absorbing book.”
 

"In her dishy tell-all memoir Cellar Rat, Selinger reveals the highs and lows of her restaurant career, from meeting world-famous food influencers to facing crushing sexism and abuses of power. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like working at elite restaurants, Cellar Rat is a must-read insider account.”

“Hannah Selinger’s remembrance of working as both a server and a sommelier offers sharp, revealing, and darkly humorous insight into the world of fine dining and the people who keep it running…a thoughtful look at how and why this world runs at the breakneck pace it does, and what that can mean for the people who work inside of it.”

"Readers aren’t picking up this book for Selinger’s farfalle with mushroom-cognac sauce, as delicious as it sounds. They’re reading it for catharsis — sometimes served raw, sometimes scalding, but tender in the end."

"Required reading not only for those curious about restaurant work but for anyone who loves dining out in restaurants (especially fine dining). It is a must-read for anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes, name-drop, tell-all tale of New York City’s fine dining restaurants and worthy of adding to your bookshelf if you appreciate biting prose and emotionally cutting memoirs."