Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table is Reichl’s first memoir; a very personal account of a fascinating upbringing and early adulthood.  She shares honestly about growing up with a mother who had a mental illness, a mother who cooked and served questionable foods.  Moldy food seems like an unlikely start for  a gourmand, but Reichl was clearly born to be a foodie.  It is clear in reading this memoir that every important event in Reichl’s life led to where she is today.   She tells tales of her travels where she tried new and exotic foods, and stories of family and friends showing her the do’s and dont’s of cooking.  Even her stories about being virtually abandoned at  a French boarding school in Montreal (despite little previous knowledge of the French language) led Reichl to new food discoveries and helped her to refine her palate. 

All of the stories in this memoir are tied seamlessly together with a singular theme – food.  Reichl describes food in a way that makes you salivate – even when she is describing a dish that she ate over 3o years ago.  It is fascinating and inspiring to me that Reichl did not seek out a career in food, she attended school and pursued other vocations before seemingly falling into a field where she was meant to stay.

As in Reichl’s other books, Reichl writes with equal measures of honesty, humor, and humility.  And, like her other books, she shares the recipes that were special to her in this time in her life.  Tender at the Bone is an easy and enjoyable read for anyone who loves food  and fascinating memoirs.