Sex, Drugs And Hospitality

If you've ever wondered whether all chefs are born evil - and if not, what makes them go bad - then this is the book for you. With delicious wit and an admirable mixture of insider knowledge and analytical detachment, Phillip Norman takes you behind the scenes of the hospitality industry in his native Australia - into the chaos of restaurant kitchens, the wanton debauchery of wedding catering and the chemically induced unreality of corporate entertaining. You'll meet brawling bikers, axe-throwing teenage mothers, topless waiters and a crazy bisexual Russian beauty, none of whom can begin to match the insanity levels of a succession of certifiable chefs. You'll learn a sure-fire ruse for avoiding jury service, why an unguarded fridge is often the only thing that makes a waiter return to work the next day, and how two copulating German tourists finally persuaded the author that he had to get out of the catering and restaurant industry. Racy, riveting and often laugh-out-loud hilarious, these memoirs of high-spirited youth against a background of hospitality horrors can be read again and again.