Cellar Rat by Hannah Selinger

May 16, 2025

Cellar Rat by Hannah Selinger

I've always had a secret desire to open a restaurant or a bar, probably because I enjoy cooking and feeding people, but the author here makes it sound a lot less appealing. She worked in fine and ultra fine dining establishments, first as a server and then as a cellar rat while she learned about wines and later as a sommelier or wine steward (a cellar rat is one of the people who unpacks cases of wine and stocks the wine cellar). It is not at all a healthy environment, as it turns out: the hours are long, the work is hard and thankless, and chefs and restaurant managers prey on vulnerable staff members. Sensitive subjects include child abuse, sexual abuse, workplace abuse, body image, and misogyny. The whole memoir comes off as repetitious and a little whiny. The author read the audio version - it might have been better if she'd hired a professional reader. A much better memoir of the restaurant industry is Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential