Everybody Eats There

Your best friend just returned from a week in Paris. Your first question is "Where did you eat?" Arpége? Ami Louis? Stresa? But what you really want to know is "Was anyone famous there?" This book is for you.

What about New York? What happened at La Grenouille, Da Silvano?, the Four Seasons, Balthazar? In LA, Toscana, Dan Tana's, the Ivy, Mr. Chow? In London, the River Cafe, Gordon Ramsay, the other Ivy? Because at all these places, the President may be in one corner, the reigning tycoon in another, and the middle is filled with actors and actresses, models and rock stars, princes and princesses, senators and scoundrels...it's where everybody eats.

Here's an insider's tour of 100 of the world's most fabulous, most delicious, and most exclusive restaurants—of their back stories and back rooms, of their menus and off-the-menu specialties, of their clientele and chefs, and of what it's like to be there: sometimes intimidating, usually mouthwatering, always entertaining. Here's also an eye-opening social history of their fascinating rises to power, of their risky decisions and tipping-point moments, of food-world brand-building and gossip-column infighting. From the industry canteens of Beverly Hills to the power rooms in Midtown Manhattan, from the fashion shows in Paris and the royalty shows in London to the skin shows in St. Tropez and the gun shows in Moscow, from Tokyo's staggeringly delicious Italian restaurants, Everybody Eats There is the ultimate food trip.

Part travelogue, part social commentary, part business manual, and part history of dining, this is a witty, insightful, meticulously researched, and utterly delectable romp through the most celebrity-packed restaurants in the world. Plus, what to order (and what not to wear) if you ever find yourself seated on the Wall of Fame at Spago, the Line at Elaine's, or the Notre Dame perch at La Tour d'Argent.