Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast Food World - Softcover

"'Buy this book. Buy several copies and give them to your friends. Passionate, entertaining, profoundly knowledgeable' - Daily Mail"

"'Gina Mallet is right about absolutely everything. Part explanation, part memoir, part manifesto, Last Chance to Eat explains where it all went wrong - and what we can do about it' - Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential"

"'Mallet unlocks a wonderful world of domestic memoir, handled (doubtless like her pastry) with a featherlight touch' - The Guardian"

"'Virtually every page contains something that has you cheering' - The Independent"

"Interlacing autobiography, polemic and the occasional recipe, Last Chance to Eat sets out to examine what has gone wrong' - Mail on Sunday"

Food has never been more fashionable, yet fewer and fewer people really know what good food is. Drawing on a lifetime full of rich culinary experiences, Gina Mallet's irreverent memoir combines recollections of meals and their milieus with recipes and tasting tips.

In loving detail, Last Chance to Eat muses on the fates of foods that were once the stuff of feasts: light, fluffy eggs; rich cheeses; fresh meat; garden vegetables; and fish just hauled ashore.

Mallet's gastronomic adventures will appeal to any palate: from finding the perfect grilled cheese ('as delicate as any Escoffier recipe') to combing the bustling food department at post-war Harrods for the makings of 'an Elizabeth David meal'.

The search for taste often takes her far from the beaten path - to an underground 'chevaline' restaurant serving horsemeat steaks and to purveyors of contraband Epoisses, for instance - but the journey is always a delight.