Dear Readers,
Because Best Served Hot follows two restaurant reviewers who are passionate about their jobs (and, spoiler alert, soon about each other), restaurants play a major role in this book. Something like half the book is set inside various restaurants. The characters spend a lot of time talking about restaurants, and thinking about restaurants and eating delicious food from restaurants. So I still find it ironic that I wrote it early on in the pandemic, when all the restaurants around me were closed. Covid-19 hit New York City hard. I spent many nights in the beginning of the pandemic falling asleep to the sound of sirens and worrying as people around me fell ill or lost jobs. Not being able to eat out for a while was the least of anyone’s problems, but trying to write a book without being able to do firsthand research wasn’t easy. In order to plan out the restaurant experiences that Julie and Bennett have in the book, I had to rely on memories of meals I had in the past and on reviews from newspapers, blogs, and social media. Thank goodness that I am (like Julie) one of those millennials who takes photos of everything I eat! Funnily enough, drawing upon restaurant reviews in order to write this book truly deepened my appreciation of what reviewers do, bringing my understanding of Julie and Bennett’s passion to a whole new level. A good restaurant review, whether it’s in the New York Times or on some rando’s Instagram feed, can make you feel almost like you’re really there, sitting across the table from friends, laughing as you toast to something as simple as being together. I realized that, for my characters, writing restaurant reviews isn’t just about telling people where they can find great food. That’s a lot of it, of course! But it’s also about telling people where they should gather with their friends and family to break bread and drink wine and enjoy each other’s company. Once I knew that, it was easier to tap into these characters’ passions and show the readers what the stakes were if they didn’t succeed with their goals. I hope that, as you discuss Best Served Hot with your book club— whether you’re enjoying cake and themed drinks in person or chatting over Zoom—you appreciate them, too. Warmly,
Amanda Elliot
Discussion Questions 1.
What’s your favorite restaurant? What
Class, classism, and money are major
specifically makes it your favorite? Pretend
themes and topics of discussion in the book.
you’re giving it a glowing review on your
How do you feel about the way the story
social media or in your paper of choice.
depicted them and the various characters in
2.
different classes?
the book about the superior method of
Emerson Leigh’s search for fulfillment and
restaurant reviewing—writing or photos—
meaning in her life ends (at least for now)
and come to the conclusion that both
with her finding work as an event planner,
methods have their strengths. Do you agree?
which was encouraged by Julie. Do you
Why or why not? If you are looking for
agree with Julie’s assertions of what makes
a new restaurant, where do you
for a happy, fulfilling life? Why or why not?
prefer to look?
What does fulfillment mean to you?
3.
Julie spends most of the book hiding her
7.
If you could choose one character from this
dislike of wine so that her followers won’t
book to share a meal with at your favorite
judge her for it. Do you agree with her
restaurant, who would it be and why?
decision, and with her ultimate choice to
8.
Julie and Bennett spar over the course of
stop hiding it at the end? Why or why not? Have you ever hidden an aspect of yourself to keep from being judged?
4.
Early on in the book, Julie says, “Sometimes being loved on social media meant being loved as someone who [isn’t] really you.” Do you agree? Why or why not? What does social media mean to you?
5.
6.
Imagine a bonus chapter that takes place five years after the epilogue and features all of the main characters. Where do you picture the characters’ lives at this future point?