Appetites - Softcover

Murphy thanks the chef at Le Cirque for the "many informative hours" he spent there and this fast-paced novel about the power struggle to control a top Manhattan restaurant shows his attention to detail. When Pierre Villeromain dies suddenly, his daughter Elise and second wife Kate discover they're equal shareholders in the Palais Royal. Elise, a hippie dropout, wants to continue running the restaurant; Kate, a stunning British painter, is not so sure, especially when Dave Hollander, owner of the Billy Burger hamburger chain, tenders an offer. Armand and his lover Yves, the maitre d' and head chef of the Palaise Royal, are also interested, especially when the restaurant seems up for grabs. The maneuverings of these high-powered New Yorkers results in a wonderfully entertaining narrative. Murphy has a real sympathy for his charactersthey're all so nice for goodness sakeand readers will be happily beguiled by the two heroines.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Here's a summer souffle for the romantic, a lightly spiced tale of intrigue in the kitchen of New York's splendid (fictional) Palais Royal restaurant. Following the sudden death of her father, the owner, Elise Villeromain decides to try to maintain the restaurant in the style he would have wished. She must, of course, fend off potential buyers, prove her competence to staff and customers, and present an elegant banquet to a most demanding clientele despite a series of calamities. Murphy combines just the right touches of conglomerate menace (frozen hollandaise and hamburgers) with a backstage peek at restaurant management, to entertain any reader with a taste for post-nouvelle cuisine. A fast-moving, pleasant addition to popular fiction collections. Elsa Pendleton, M.L.S., Computer Sciences Corp., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.