As I relive all this, writing this story, I’m realizing how dehumanizing the whole experience was. Restaurant culture mirrors real-life culture, and if you have any delusions about how the world works, about absolute power corrupting absolutely, go work at a restaurant. Your romantic bubble vision of the world will burst. More

I was working as a host at an Atlanta restaurant, but I wanted to be a waiter. Not because I’d make more money (which I would) but because I wanted to be like Flo at Mel’s Diner in Alice and tell customers to "Kiss my grits." A few weeks into my hosting stint, I overheard a manager talking about how a waiter quit and how they needed a fast replacement. "I can do it!" I said. "I learn really fast." More

I looked at myself in the mirror, and I said, "Adam, do you want to spend the rest of your life trading integrity for convenience? Stop being a chicken-stock whore. You need to pull yourself together and make this dinner count. Look up some recipes, go to the store, and have the time and patience to do it right." More

I’ve been following recipes for as long as I’ve been cooking. If I keep following recipes, the best I can be is a great recipe follower. Don’t I want more for myself? Why can’t I come up with my own recipe? I envy home cooks who throw in a dash of this, a dash of that, and make a mini masterpiece. Why shouldn’t it be my turn? More

If you chopped my arm off with an axe, you might be surprised to see that the stump that remained had a giant hole in it. That’s because my body is made of bagels. I am 70 percent water, 30 percent bagels. No week passes in my life without the consumption of at least one or more bagels. More

I reflect on my day's activity. On one hand, I've done something perceived as masculine: I have built a bathroom fixture, mounted it to the wall with my bare hands, and did so by following instructions on a sheet of paper. On the other hand, I did something perceived as feminine (if not downright girly): I made fairy cakes. More

Eve enjoyed her time with Adam in the garden but found that she had strange cravings. "These tomatoes are nice," she'd say. "But wouldn't they be better slow-roasted in an oven and served on toasted bread with cold-pressed olive oil and aged pecorino?" One day, a snake overheard her thoughts and whispered to her. "Wouldn't you like to try some apple gelée with peach nectar foam on a bed of rose petals? Or mango soufflé in a moat of rosemary vapor with the essence of camel?" More

Work, like school, camp, and prison, is an institution. Institutions operate like mothers—feeding, nurturing, and structuring the day for the “children.” People who enjoy institutions tend to have oral personalities—they like to be nurtured—and it makes sense, then, that people at work crave food. Hence the weekly cake-fueled parties at offices throughout the nation. More

Coffee shops offer one of the last vestiges of community in this day and age of isolation, iPods, and Internet. To my single friends, I say, "Don't go to a bar, go to a coffee shop. Read a book and drink some coffee and you'll meet someone." More

I suspect that when it comes to making nutrition choices, what worries us has nothing to do with health or longevity and everything to do with a subject that's much more complex and much more powerful: beauty. More

Mario Batali is in the kitchen at Otto, and I'm at a table waiting for him. There are two bottles of water in front of me: one flat, one sparkling. I'm offered coffee. I'm offered lemonade. I politely refuse, take out my notebook, and wait. And then he appears. More

While men cooking at home frequently raise an eyebrow, restaurant chefs are, if anything, considered more masculine for what they do. Who’s gruffer than Anthony Bourdain? Who’s more brazen than Mario Batali? And look at how those Japanese Iron Chefs wield their knives like action stars. More

I’m a passionate person—particularly about food. And that’s just my problem. I can’t mind my own business. I care too much. I care so much that I’ve become something of a food bully. A description my friends find all too appropriate. More

Blogging has ousted political leaders, written dialog for Samuel L. Jackson, and forced Doogie Howser out of the closet. Food blogging is just beginning to gain power. Restaurateurs and chefs are starting to take notice of the strange quiet types scribbling notes and taking pictures of their food. More

The original idea was to make croissants, but that would've been too time consuming. Croissants require lots of resting. I didn't want to spend 36 hours making pastry, so I made a squirrel cake instead. More

Eggs Benedict is made with Canadian bacon; Martin Short is hammy and Canadian. The comparisons end there, except for the fact that they were obstacles in my relationship with my boyfriend of nine months. More

The Amateur Gourmet and friends take a culinary tour of Southern India by way of Saravanaas in New York City: "We begin studying our menus. They have words we've never seen before, like 'bisibelabath'." More

Ever hear of food-show host Pancetta? It's OK. Neither had we, until the Amateur Gourmet brought her to our attention. Here she is with a perfect easy-to-follow New Year's Day recipe. Happy 2007! More

The Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts, exercises a fair amount of chutzpah and finagles a white truffle dinner out for two out of Alain Ducasse. More

In this week's gusticomic, The Amateur Gourmet forsakes Jewish tradition in favor of pine and swine. How does his first Christmas ham turn out? Oy veh! More

In today's installment, our hero takes a culinary trip to the other side of the globe. More