Beggars Belief

Cyrano de Bergerac said, "I have tried to live my whole life with panache." If I said that, I'd sound like a twat. But you get the drift. I'm off to bone some quails.

Gerald Diffey has spent four decades immersed in the world of food, wine, and hospitality, from his early days waiting tables in old English hotels to establishing two of the best places in the world to drink and eat—the award-winning Gerald's Bar in North Carlton, which Heston Blumenthal described as "a proper, proper old-fashioned sort of bar," and Gerald's Bar in San Sebastian.

Beggars Belief is a collection of funny, poignant, insightful, and just plain ludicrous stories from Gerald's life in kitchens and behind bars. It covers his formative years in the UK, memories of food and family, tales and tips from forty years of service, and journeys and meals that span people and places—from lunch on the side of a volcano in Sicily to dinner on a beach in East Timor. The book is filled with stories, recipes, and drink suggestions from North Carlton and San Sebastian, as well as vignettes, slices of life, and observations.

In the introduction, Gerald writes, "Romance, that's what I sell. Sensual pleasures. Sights, sounds, smells, touch, taste."