Garlic clove AND SAPPHIRES is Ruth Reichl’s riotous accounts of the numerous disguises she uses to dine anonymously. There is her stint as Molly Hollis, a frumpy blond with manicured nails and an off-beige Armani fit that Ruth assumes when researching Le Cirque. The result: her well-known double review of the cafe: first she ate there as Molly; and simply because she was coddled and pampered on her behalf visit there as Ruth, New York Times meals critic.

What is even more remarkable about Reichl’s spy video games is that while she assumes these various disguises, she finds herself changed not only superficially, but in character aswell. She provides remarkable account of how one’s external appearance can quite definitely influence one’s internal character, anticipations, and appetites.

As she writes, “Every restaurant is a theater . even the humble restaurants offer the possibility to become another person, at least for a time.” Garlic clove AND SAPPHIRES can be a representation on personal identification and role playing in the decadent, epicurean theaters of the restaurant world.