NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The debut memoir from the renowned author of Save Me the Plums, about the people who“steered her on the path to fulfill her destiny as one of the world’s leading food writers” ( Chicago Sun-Times ). “An absolute delight to read . . . How lucky we are that [Reichl] had the courage to follow her appetite.”— Newsday At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that “food could be a way of making sense of the world. If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were.” Her deliciously crafted memoir Tender at the Bone is the story of a life defined, determined, and enhanced in equal measure by a passion for food, by unforgettable people, and by the love of tales well told.    Beginning with her mother, the notorious food-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us to the fascinating characters who shaped her world and tastes, from the gourmand Monsieur du Croix, who served Reichl her first foie gras, to those at her politically correct table in Berkeley who championed the organic food revolution in the 1970s.    Spiced with Reichl’s infectious humor and sprinkled with her favorite recipes, Tender at the Bone is a witty and compelling chronicle of a culinary sensualist’s coming-of-age.  Featuring a special Afterword by the author and more than a dozen personal family photos “Reading Ruth Reichl on food is almost as good as eating it.”— Washington Post Book World   “An absolute delight to read...How lucky we are that [Ruth Reichl] had the courage to follow her appetite.”— Newsday   “A poignant, yet hilarious, collection of stories about people [Reichl] has known and loved, and who, knowingly or unknowingly, steered her on the path to fulfill her destiny as one of the world’s leading food writers.”— Chicago Sun-Times   “While all good food writers are humorous...few are so riotously, effortlessly entertaining as Ruth Reichl.”— New York Times Book Review   “A savory memoir of [Reichl’s] apprentice years...Reichl describes [her] experiences with infectious humor...The descriptions of each sublime taste are mouthwateringly precise...A perfectly balanced stew of memories.”— Kirkus Reviews Ruth Reichl  is the New York Times bestselling author of five memoirs, the novel Delicious! , and the cookbook My Kitchen Year . She was editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and previously served as restaurant critic for The New York Times , as well as food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times . She has been honored with six James Beard Awards. In 2024, she received the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. Most mornings I got out of bed and went to the refrigerator to see how my mother was feeling. You could tell instantly just by opening the door. One day in 1960 I found a whole suckling pig staring at me. I jumped back and slammed the door, hard. Then I opened it again. I'd never seen a whole animal in our refrigerator before; even the chickens came in parts. He was surrounded by tiny crab apples (" lady apples " my mother corrected me later), and a whole wreath of weird vegetables. This was not a bad sign: the more odd and interesting things there were in the refrigerator, the happier my mother was likely to be. Still, I was puzzled; the refrigerator in our small kitchen had been almost empty when I went to bed. "Where did you get all this stuff?" I asked. "The stores aren't open yet." "Oh," said Mom blithely, patting at her crisp gray hair, "I woke up early and decided to go for a walk. You'd be surprised at what goes on in Manhattan at four A.M. I've been down to the Fulton Fish Market. And I found the most interesting produce store on Bleecker Street." "It was open?" I asked. "Well," she admitted, "not really." She walked across the worn linoleum and set a basket of bread on the Formica table. "But I saw someone moving around so I knocked. I've been trying to get ideas for the party." "Party?" I asked warily. "What party?" "Your brother has decided to get married," she said casually, as if I should have somehow intuited this in my sleep. "And of course we're going to have a party to celebrate the engagement and meet Shelly's family!" My brother, I knew, would not welcome this news. He was thirteen years older than I and considered it a minor miracle to have reached the age of twenty-five. "I don't know how I survived her cooking," he said as he was telling me about the years when he and Mom were living alone, after she had divorced his father and was waiting to meet mine. "She's a menace to society." Bob went to live with his father in Pittsburgh right after I was born, but he always came home for holidays. When he was there he always helped me protect the guests, using tact to keep them from eating the more dangerous items. I took a more direct approach. "Don't eat that," I ordered my best friend Jeanie as her spoon dipped into one of Mom's more creative lunch dishes. My mother believed in celebrating every holiday: