When Conde Nast offered Ruth Reichl the job of editor-in-chief of Gourmet, she at first declined. After years of cooking in Berkeley, and then as the restaurant critic for The New York Times, she thought of herself as a writer, not a manager. What did she know about supervising 60 talented, quirky food professionals? But Reichl had been reading Gourmet, America’s oldest epicurean magazine, since she was eight years old. It had inspired her career choice. So, despite her misgivings, she accepted the job. A job, by the way, that paid her six times what she was making at the Times and included all kinds of luxury perks.

Save Me the Plums is her account of her years as editor of Gourmet at the time when the golden age of print media was about to drastically change. It was the time when Americans were starting to embrace farm-to-table restaurants and television was making stars of battling chefs. It also saw the rise of the Internet, which was rapidly replacing much of print media, especially newspapers and magazines. So, despite her hard work, the steady decline in advertising forced her publishers to close the magazine.

I read Reichl first in her role as restaurant critic. Though we were raising young children and really couldn’t afford to frequent most of the places she reviewed, I loved her column and hoped to get to some of them one day. I enjoyed her earlier books, starting with Tender at the Bone, and can recommend them to anyone who enjoys cooking, good restaurants and good food in general.

Sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, Reichl’s latest memoir is an easy, yet informative read by a talented writer.

The LML Book Club holds its meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at the library. This book is available at the library. Readers can join by calling 845-439-5440.