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Memories of a Restaurant Girlhood
Riverhead Hardcover
February 2012
On Sale: February 16, 2012
272 pages ISBN: 1594488150 EAN: 9781594488153 Kindle: B005GSYZBG Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
Like Eloise growing up in the Plaza Hotel, Charlotte Silver
grew up in her mother's restaurant. Located in Harvard
Square, Upstairs at the Pudding was a confection of pink
linen tablecloths and twinkling chandeliers, a decadent
backdrop for childhood. Over dinners of foie gras and Dover
sole, always served with a Shirley Temple, Charlotte kept
company with a rotating cast of eccentric staff members.
After dinner, in her frilly party dress, she often caught a
nap under the bar until closing time. Her one constant was
her glamorous, indomitable mother, nicknamed "Patton in
Pumps," a wasp-waisted woman in cocktail dress and stilettos
who shouldered the burden of raising a family and running a
kitchen. Charlotte's unconventional upbringing takes its
toll, and as she grows up she wishes her increasingly busy
mother were more of a presence in her life. But when the
restaurant-forever teetering on the brink of financial
collapse-looks as if it may finally be closing, Charlotte
comes to realize the sacrifices her mother has made to keep
the family and restaurant afloat and gains a new
appreciation of the world her mother has built. Infectious, charming, and at times wistful, Charlotte au
Chocolat is a celebration of the magic of a beautiful
presentation and the virtues of good manners, as well as a
loving tribute to the author's mother-a woman who always
showed her best face to the world.
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