electricjuicebox's review against another edition
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Interesting setup but I felt like the plot and the relationships didn't really go anywhere. I enjoyed it but only *mildly*
barbie16's review against another edition
A book about restaurants and cooking that is completely bland. I made it through the first half of this book and ended that completely bored so I'm not bothering with the second half. The characters weren't interesting and the book is so slow paced absolutely nothing of note happened in the first half. Life's too short, onto the next.
kickpleat's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars really, because I often time wondered where this book was going. If you are into watching Top Chef, you'll probably like this book about a band of brothers getting older/coming into their own as one of them opens a new restaurant. The women characters are just two dimensional props that love their men, reassure them from their neurosis, and lend a helping hand when they can. Still, it's a decent read and had me hungry for most of the book. I hated the cover, by the way.
heather_g's review against another edition
3.0
lots of good food descriptions but characters needed more development. 3 brothers, 2 restaurants, typical hijinks ensue.
ciska's review against another edition
3.0
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in return for an honest review*
Author
Michelle Wildgen is a writer, editor, and teacher in Madison, Wisconsin. She works as an executive editor at the literary journal Tin House. She received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and has taught fiction and nonfiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Tin House Summer Writers’ Workshop, and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival.
Review
I fell in love with this cover the moment I saw it. Reading the synopsis I expected a fun read. With my brother being a chef I do know little bits about the intrigue, rivalry and hard work in the restaurant business and I was curious how it would all work out.
The first fifty pages you get introduced how things look behind your nice dinner in a restaurant quickly. The hard work, trying to get the best food and prettiest plates and biggest surprises for the customers. A lot of the risks of setting up your own restaurant business passing by and a lot of tasty food descriptions. This book made me very hungry. There was just one problem. I did not connect to the characters. Am not sure if that was because of the multiple point of view style or the speed of the story. But they did not really came alive for me. I did spend some fun time with the book though.
Author
Michelle Wildgen is a writer, editor, and teacher in Madison, Wisconsin. She works as an executive editor at the literary journal Tin House. She received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and has taught fiction and nonfiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Tin House Summer Writers’ Workshop, and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival.
Review
I fell in love with this cover the moment I saw it. Reading the synopsis I expected a fun read. With my brother being a chef I do know little bits about the intrigue, rivalry and hard work in the restaurant business and I was curious how it would all work out.
The first fifty pages you get introduced how things look behind your nice dinner in a restaurant quickly. The hard work, trying to get the best food and prettiest plates and biggest surprises for the customers. A lot of the risks of setting up your own restaurant business passing by and a lot of tasty food descriptions. This book made me very hungry. There was just one problem. I did not connect to the characters. Am not sure if that was because of the multiple point of view style or the speed of the story. But they did not really came alive for me. I did spend some fun time with the book though.
maryrobinson's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting family drama involving three brothers in the food business. A great look inside their restaurants and fun story of their passion for food and complex relationships with each other.
perednia's review against another edition
4.0
Three brothers, two restaurants and falling in love are the ingredients in Michelle Wildgen's winning Bread and Butter, a quiet novel about familiar satisfactions.
Britt and Leo never really left their hometown. Leo started, and Britt soon came in to run the front, of Winesap, a refined yet comfortable restaurant named for the trees in their parents' yard. The restaurant is a well-oiled machine and the brothers are growing middle-aged settling in as essential cogs of that machinery.
Younger brother Harry has kicked around here and there, dividing his time between university courses and cooking. His exploits have included travel, a stint in an Alaskan salmon cannery and cookng at a self-sustaining restaurant on a Michigan island. He's back home now, too, and plans to open his own restaurant. The older two are skeptical but not unencouraging. Until Harry's vision clicks for one of the brothers and he becomes Harry's partner, dividing his time between the new place and Winesap.
At the same time, Britt, who appears as confident, is slightly rattled by the appearance of a confident woman who begins dining at Winesap regularly and who knows Harry. Then Leo's eyes are finally opened about someone who has been there the whole time.
That the ensuing complications and conflicts arise not from the men falling in love with these women -- although their falling in love opens them both up -- is one of the calm delights of this novel. It's a pleasure to read a book that is not about brothers fighting over women or fighting over who is smarter and the better entrepreneur and the more accomplished foodie.
Rather, it is a pleasure to read a novel about brothers who love each other, get to know each other and themselves a bit better, and who enjoy what they are doing.
Also, the parts about food are delicious. Wildgen knows what she is writing about, whether it is family or food.
Britt and Leo never really left their hometown. Leo started, and Britt soon came in to run the front, of Winesap, a refined yet comfortable restaurant named for the trees in their parents' yard. The restaurant is a well-oiled machine and the brothers are growing middle-aged settling in as essential cogs of that machinery.
Younger brother Harry has kicked around here and there, dividing his time between university courses and cooking. His exploits have included travel, a stint in an Alaskan salmon cannery and cookng at a self-sustaining restaurant on a Michigan island. He's back home now, too, and plans to open his own restaurant. The older two are skeptical but not unencouraging. Until Harry's vision clicks for one of the brothers and he becomes Harry's partner, dividing his time between the new place and Winesap.
At the same time, Britt, who appears as confident, is slightly rattled by the appearance of a confident woman who begins dining at Winesap regularly and who knows Harry. Then Leo's eyes are finally opened about someone who has been there the whole time.
That the ensuing complications and conflicts arise not from the men falling in love with these women -- although their falling in love opens them both up -- is one of the calm delights of this novel. It's a pleasure to read a book that is not about brothers fighting over women or fighting over who is smarter and the better entrepreneur and the more accomplished foodie.
Rather, it is a pleasure to read a novel about brothers who love each other, get to know each other and themselves a bit better, and who enjoy what they are doing.
Also, the parts about food are delicious. Wildgen knows what she is writing about, whether it is family or food.
karak's review against another edition
4.0
I realized I rarely read novels with a male protagonist (well, rarely outside of sci-fi/fantasy where the majority of novels have a male protagonist). So this novel has not one, but three male protagonists. Brothers Leo, Britt and Henry. Leo and Britt have owned and operated a successful restaurant in their hometown for about a decade. Their much younger brother Henry comes back in town and decides to open his own restaurant- not in direct competition. Henry wants both of his brothers to be involved in his new venture. Only Britt is excited by this.
An excellent, if fictional, look at the not pretty side of running an independent restaurant.
An excellent, if fictional, look at the not pretty side of running an independent restaurant.
bougainvillea's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. I meant to only skim the first few pages to confirm it was as boring as a lot of the reviews seemed to suggest, but I was hooked. The characters are all very rich. I feel like the author could have pulled many more stories out of them had she chosen to. Belle illustration d'histoire implosive as opposed to explosive.