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| Published: April 2016 |
The hype machine for Stephanie Danler's debut, Sweetbitter, was in full effect during the spring of 2016. It was often mentioned in the same breath as Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, while one New York Times headline deemed it "Bright Lights, Big City for the Restaurant Set." I was intrigued. I assumed I was buying a gritty autobiographical restaurant novel about a small town girl in the big city (sex, drugs and food!). Instead, Sweetbitter was a sluggish coming-of-maturity romp that reminded me of my drunken work hard/play hard twenties and the eventual rock bottom epiphanies that demanded I grow up and get my shit together. The novel had its moments. It hinted at the potential its hype suggested. But, overall I found it slow, frustrating, and less about food, more about a tiresome love triangle.
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