Originating in pre-Revolutionary France but now widespread throughout the developed world, the restaurant has always been the locus of contradictory emotions. While the restaurant encourages conviviality, sophistication and generosity, it also fosters inequality, alienation and bad faith. Appelbaum takes the reader on
a journey in search of the social values of good eating, whether sampling the
fare at Catalonian bistros, Italian-American chophouses, global fast-food
joints, or Michelin-starred temples of haute cuisine in London, Paris and Los
Angeles. Dishing it Out is the first book to investigate the social mores of the restaurant.
