A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City

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Now, nearly 90 years later, a new book takes a modern look at life in Paris behind the scenes of glitter and glamour; it’s earned comparisons with Orwell’s seminal work, and certainly the world it reveals is just as harsh as that portrayed in the earlier book. EDWARD CHISHOLM was born in Dorset, England, and moved to Paris in 2012 after graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

To become a subscriber to Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly Magazine, please visit our subscriptions page. A restaurant is a theatrical stage of silver cutlery and white serviettes, a ‘smell of wood polish mixed with the perfume of flowers’. A Waiter in Paris had me hooked, after reading the Introduction and the Amuse-Bouche, I felt compelled to read on. In any case, reading of his journey through the darker sides of Paris was a pleasure, one I’m sure anyone who loves 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 will also enjoy.We recorded this podcast inside the glorious brasserie Bofinger, seated beneath their Belle Époque glass-stained cupola. This tough little book documents the experience of being a foreign worker, lost in the understrata of the often exploitative industry from which we benefit.

He is in one of the most well-known places on Earth, a place where dreams are made and come true, where history is on every street corner, where people are elegant, and food is exquisitely prepared and served.This astonishing book describes a cruel, feral existence and is worthy of standing on the shelf next to George Orwell’s Down And Out In Paris And London (1933) as another classic about human exploitation. And your review sent me back to Orwell where i lost myself for a while looking for the one line I remembered from my first encounter with the book half a century ago: “Roughly speaking, the more one pays for food, the more sweat and spittle one is obliged to eat with it. This astonishing book describes a cruel, feral existence and is worthy of standing on the shelf next to George Orwell's Down And Out In Paris And London (1933) as another classic about human exploitation. The independent-minded quarterly magazine that combines good looks, good writing and a personal approach. And, along with these unforgettable people, the restaurant itself is a character, existing within an even larger character- Paris.

Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I lived in Copenhagen where I was registered with the Foreign Ministry as correspondent for The Times. Successfully landing a job at a respectable restaurant, he is hazed by the other waiters until he finally catches on to the cutthroat culture that exists among them. Thoroughly recommend this book for anyone who wants an insight into the French at all levels of society. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. It started as a ridiculous notion as a non-French speaking English man with no catering experience decides to become a waiter in a busy Paris restaurant, where he is treated badly, victimised, and paid badly.Chisholm has the unenviable job of painting that picture but does so with broad strokes and interesting results. Power struggles, abuse and fear are told through a humorous and stoic tone, giving us as viewers a window into a world of brotherhood and thievery. I'd advise readers to enjoy it somewhere warm and comfortable, and on no account to try it before a gastronomic weekend.