Turning Tables

Erin Edwards is an up-and-coming marketing exec who frequents New York's hippest eateries--until the tables are turned. Now, newly unemployed, Erin only has days to transform herself into a first-class server at Roulette, one of Manhattan's top restaurants. Can she make it in a world where survival is all about . . .

But life behind the apron is even worse than Erin imagined--within days she finds herself in hot water with Roulette's egomaniacal celebrity chef and the owner's outrageous wife. And then there's the surly, dismissive clientele--all but Daniel Fratelli, the flirtatious TV news producer who may just be as nice as he seems. Determined not to crack under pressure, Erin sets out to master the art of waitressing--becoming part shrink, part slave, and partfoie gras pusher. It seems like she'll be hustling for that twenty percent for the rest of her life, until her quirky best friend comes up with the perfect recipe for success--or a second course of disaster.

In this smart, sexy, and wickedly observant novel, identical twins and onetime real-life waitresses Heather and Rose MacDowell bring a deliciously tart verisimilitude to this story of a young woman's adventures at Manhattan's most exclusive new haunt.

Heather and Rose MacDowell are identical twins who have waited tables in some of the best (and worst) restaurants in Manhattan, Nantucket, and San Francisco. Today they live on opposite coasts and write by email and phone. They dine out frequently and are big tippers.