Saturday, February 6, 2010  Great new book HOTEL Bemelmans  I
love to read and quite frankly the only reason I really started
this blog was to talk about reading and books. But for the last
six months, while I'm reading as prolifically as always, I just
haven't read anything that I thought worthy of public discussion
here.  I don't know if books, like films, etc. are not being
published in as many numbers and therefore the quality is down
or what (I do know that I don't often find a DVD to rent because
there doesn't seem to be as many movies that interest me these
days).  Until I read HOTEL BEMELMANS by Ludwig Bemelmans. He was
a New York busboy, waiter, and restaurateur in New York in the
20's and 30's. The book is a series of short essays or sketches
about the life and times of the Hotel Splendide where Bemelmans
worked. The Splendide was in reality the Ritz Carlton.  With an
introduction by Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential), the
book tells the secrets and scandals of the hotel's staff and
rich patron