"[This book is] gorgeous and breathtakingly detailed . . . Kenny Shopsin is an unreformed hippie who has run a small restaurant in New York City since the 1970s. He cooks with childlike glee (his book contains his brilliant macaroni-and-cheese pancake recipe), and he is famous for turning out guests he finds unworthy of his scrambled eggs. . . . Mr. Shopsin is a man equally obsessed and appetite-ridden, though what pulls the reader through
Eat Me is a kind of horrified, hilarious amazement. Is it true that he will flat-out refuse to serve any customer a cheese steak without onions, or a Cobb salad without bacon? Did he really just compare pressing a burger down on the griddle to masturbation? (He knows he shouldn't do it, because it dries out the beef, but he can't help it sometimes; then he feels bad afterward.). Reading about Shopsin's is actually more fun than eating at Shopsin's; the book provides access to the food without the yelling and the edge of fear."
-Julia Moskin,
New York Times "[Kenny Shopsin] is outsize in every way, and his food is gloriously excessive. The book not only contains about 100 recipes, it's a history of the store and a philosophy of life.
-John Hodgman,
New York Post
"[At Shopsin's] I was transported by some of the most satisfying food I've ever been privileged to eat. Now, the notoriously publicity-shy Kenny Shopsin has written a book (with Carolynn Carreño) about the philosophy and history of the restaurant, called
Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin, and it, too, is an utterly satisfying, utterly peculiar experience. . . . Shopsin's memoir is like the man: loud, opinionated, warm, exuberant and absolutely delightful. . . . this book is just purely magic. It's a manifesto for cranky, lovable, excessive individualism. It's a call-to-arms to woo the muse of the odd and thumb your nose at convention. And it's got some damned tasty recipes."
-Cory Doctorow,
boingboing.net
"
Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin blends recipes with his uncensored thoughts on cooking."
-Christine Muhlke,
New York Times Magazine
"[Shopsin says], 'People are afraid of being mediocre, of being ordinary.' Happily, his sensible, ornery book is neither. . . .one of the [year's] best. Grade: A."
-Jennifer Reese, Entertainment Weekly
" . . . brilliant, hilarious and infuriating . . . The book, like the store, is an elegy to a dying New York. . . . Oh yes: There are recipes too. A lot of them, all straightforward and without pretense. . . . wonderfully written . . .
Eat Me is probably the safest way to understand and appreciate Kenny Shopsin."
-Jesse Wegman,
New York Observer "[Kenny's] no fuss approach to cooking makes his recipes perfect for the home chef-so if he ever refuses to let you in [to his restaurant], at least you can still eat his food!"
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Moderntonic.com "A riotously funny and magnificently idiosyncratic cookbook."
-Mark Knoblauch,
Booklist
"Kenny Shopsin creates a book of enduring wisdom . . . This could go down as the
Book of Five Rings of short-order cookery."
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New York magazine blog, "Grub Street"
"I have known Kenny Shopsin for 25 years, and he is profane, unreasonable, more than occasionally rude, charming, funny, and totally ridiculous-sometimes all simultaneously. He's also a really good cook who can make me laugh, even while insulting me. So based on all the above, I was thrilled when we received an advance copy of Kenny's cookbook-memoir-philosophical tome,
Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin. I knew it would be like Kenny, endlessly fascinating, sometimes infuriating, and totally engaging."
-Ed Levine,
Seriouseats.com "I never thought I'd say this but Kenny Shopsin is the New York version of
me! I love the way he cooks, I love the way he thinks, and I love the way he writes about food, family and life. This is as entertaining as a book can be. And I hope the next time I'm in his neck of the woods, he doesn't throw me out of his restaurant 'cause I am definitely going there!"
-Paula Deen
"Kenny Shopsin hates publicity the way a magnet must hate metal filings. . . . this supposedly reluctant restaurateur now adds to his own troubles by releasing a totally hilarious and surprisingly touching treatise on cooking, customer loyalty and family bonds. . . . the real treat is Shopsin's salty philosophizing. . . . writer Calvin Trillin and his wife, Alice, pop up throughout the book, providing not only happy reminiscences, but a roux of poignancy as both Shopsin and Trillin become widowers, bonded together over the love of a decent meal, quickly rendered."
Publishers Weekly (starred)
