Food Quotes

LUCY BURDETTE: When I was beginning the food critic mysteries, I decided that I'd kick off each chapter with a food-related quote. The hunt for just the right words has been so much fun--and I have to say, the harder I look, the more interesting the quotes. I'm polishing up the list for book two, DEATH IN FOUR COURSES, and thought you might enjoy reading them--or adding a few of your favorites.

“Still, his diners are newly accessorizing the table setting: fork on the left, knife on the right, iPhone top center. It’s chew and review, toast and post.” Ike DeLorenzo

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Manuel Rouvelas

“When a camera flash goes off in a restaurant, I no longer look around for the birthday party—I look for the food blogger.” Nick Fauchald

“When I write about a line cook’s bad night, it’s not just about a bad night, it’s about not being good enough, period, about personal shame and failure.” Michael Ruhlman

“Unlike cooking, where largely edible, if raw ingredients are assembled, cut, heated, and otherwise manipulated into something both digestible and palatable, writing is closer to having to reverse-engineer a meal out of rotten food.” David Rakoff

"It's so beautifully arranged on the plate — you know someone's fingers have been all over it." Julia Child

“A weariness has settled in and taken root, helped along by the gray and frigid weather and the aftermath of a headache, a blousy, bilious feeling, dense as pound cake.” Meredith Mileti

“The best moment of the day, he says, is when your knees are under the table.” Colman Andrews

And finally, I was delighted to get permission from the hysterical Roy Blount Jr. to use his little poem:

"I LIKE MEAT

Cold meat or hot meat,

Sliced thick or thin.

I guess I’ve just got meat

Under my skin." Roy Blount Jr.