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    I got a copy of  "Restaurant Man" for my birthday. I was interested in the book because I like Joe Bastianich. I first became aware of Bastianich when I accidentally found Master Chef on Hulu (can I get paid for that ad?) Bastianich is not a chef.  He is  restaurateur in a world full of celebrity chefs and he is competing for attention- or money. He is surrounded by people who celebrate food and this book is his chance to show us that he is not just food savvy, but business savvy.
   I liked Bastianich, but I wanted to get to know him. On his show he has moments of great humanity and tenderness...those moments are rare, but I wanted a better understanding of who this new reality TV show guy was. His book is not an autobiography. It is a curse laden advertisement for how smart he is and how much he has given to America's diners. There is no editing going on inside the covers. What you read is exactly as Bastianich would tell it if you were across the dinner table from him. His voice resonates on each page.
    The book is all over the place. It is not a guide on how to open a restaurant, but it gives advice in every chapter. It is not another Bastianich Wine Bible, but he spends chapter after chapter walking the reader through good Italian wine, wine prices; wine glasses. I am not a drinker so a book that should have taken 2 days to read took me about a week. I was familiar with most foodie terms, but the names of wine and the Italian references took me time to paddle through.
    So why did I stick this out when it wasn't the book I wanted?  Bastianich is a character. He likes to talk about the sickness that rests inside most restaurants and I found that really interesting. He has a sense of business that is pretty incomparable. I also love New York.  Bastianich claims to have changed the face of New York eateries. I have not been back to the city since he opened Eataly  and it is the one thing I am seriously looking forward to on my next visit.
   Bastianich is a natural competitor, and I respect that. It becomes clear in this book that he is trying to sell the reader on a higher minded way of not just eating, but living. I would have liked to see the 4 books that were crammed into this one actually written. I would have liked to see the inside of his restaurant mind, the inside of his travels to Italy. I wanted to see the dirty side of the business. I got a taste of all of that. I got Bastianich talking at me, getting sidetracked, telling stories: I got the Bastianich that I see on TV. All that is good but I wanted it in a little more  thoughtful package.

     The book is good if you love wine. The book may even be great if you love wine. The book is good if you love New York dining. This is not a quiet book that makes you feel as though you are  the only one hearing Joe's secrets. This is loud, full throttle Joe letting the whole town know that he's here and he is the reason that America eats the way it does...with a little help from Lydia. He does love his mother.