Separated into the four seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall), Sweetbitter details the year 22 year-old Tess works as a back-waiter for a prestigious NYC restaurant. She quickly gets caught up in the machine of the restaurant, the lifestyle of late nights, the copious amounts of alcohol and drugs, and the almost incestuous circle of friends that only includes those "in the industry."

What surprised me the most was the lack of food description. This is a novel about the industry and its passion for food service, not the food itself. That said, I think this novel will stand the test of time because of that; the service model stays the same while the food is always evolving.