What an relaxing read! Food and food anecdotes make for a gentle sort of page turning, and it is evident that the book was put together by someone with great competence at writing about food. Moreover the book has a little bit of a newspaper article quality left in it, which let it draw me in deeply with no pressure. There's also an interesting commentary to be observed here about the practice of reviwing in disguise, and the effect of acting on the actor. My largest critique is that the last few chapters of the book, which deal with the winding up of the author's career at the Times, feel like downers compared to the rest of the book, which gives it an odd emotional curve after all the humorous good times.