Per Se Server Tells All: Vomit In The Dining Room And The Imaginary Bitchalots

The recent stories and speculation about uber-foodie Thomas Keller and his swelling empire just keep on making news. First came the frozen French fries (gasp!), then the line of frozen food (impossible!), and now the icing on the cake: "more people throw up in the dining room of Per Se than your average college bar." (Say what?) You'll have to go buy the book to find out.

Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter tells the true story of former Per Se server and captain Phoebe Damrosch, who helped open the legendary restaurant in New York City. In it, she spills the beans about her time working there, the intense training involved, and best of all, the customers -- symbolized by an imaginary couple known as the Bitchalots.

A few tantalizing tidbits: Hoping to improve their grace on the floor, the staff learned to curtsey and dance the minuet at the hands of an eighteenth-century dance expert. The staff stopped using expensive Mont Blanc pens after they kept getting stolen. The most expensive Per Se dishes are actually topped with rare unicorn horn shavings. That last one is a joke.

-- Brian Bernbaum