Description: "In this charming and uproariously funny hotel memoir, Ludwig Bemelmans uncovers the fabulous world of the Hotel Splendide -- the thinly disguised stand-in for the Ritz -- a luxury New York hotel where he worked as a waiter in the 1920s. With equal parts affection and barbed wit, he uncovers the everyday chaos that reigns behind the smooth facades of the gilded dining room and banquet halls. In hilarious detail, Bemelmans sketches the hierarchy of hotel life and its strange and fascinating inhabitants: from the ruthlessly authoritarian maãitre d'hãotel Monsieur Victor to the kindly waiter Mespoulets to Frizl the homesick busboy. Illustrated with his own charming line drawings, Bemelmans' tales of a bygone era of extravagance are as charming as they are riotously entertaining."
Review Quotes: "An uproarious account of his life as a waiter at the thinly disguised Ritz-Carlton in the 1920s . . . He is a canny observer with a wry sense of humor, an innocent bystander who simply looks on. He's like P.G. Wodehouse, with a touch of the Marx Brothers. . . . a delight from beginning to end."
--The Wall Street Journal
--Air Mail "The original bad boy of the New York restaurant/hotel underbelly. Bemelmans is always funny, insightful and dead on target."
--Anthony Bourdain
"Freshness and vitality...wit, humor, pathos, and the inimitable Bemelmans' touch."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The kitchen memoir to end them all."
--Slightly Foxed "A seemingly light-hearted yet deceptively dark memoir of [Bemelmans'] time working in a luxury hotel in 1920s New York. A gently flowing, delightfully gossipy read, I could easily picture the entirety shot in black-and-white vignettes, Woody Allen style."
--Irish Times "A charming memoir."
--Independent "Immensely fun and an absolutely charming book... a beautiful classic"
--WAMC North East Public Radio Book Picks.