Steven A. Shaw is a James Beard Award-winning writer and author of Asian Dining Rules: Essential Strategies for Eating Out at Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Korean and Indian Restaurants and Turning the Tables: The Insider's Guide to Eating Out (both published by William Morrow Cookbooks). A seasoned speaker, he has given diverse talks about many sides of the food industry at universities, food schools, chambers of commerce, as well as the Smithsonian and the prestigious 92nd Street Y in New York City. Shaw has appeared on ABC TV's "Good Morning America," "ABC World News Tonight," Fox TV's "Your World with Neil Cavuto," PBS TV's "A Hot Dog Program," and radio shows across the country.
Shaw's latest book Asian Dining Rules (William Morrow Cookbooks) reveals the strategies for getting the most out of any kind of Asian restaurant: how to order the best stuff, how a customer should conduct themselves, and other tips and tricks for crafting the best meal experience. No matter the level of comfort or knowledge of Asian dining, Shaw has something to teach everyone.
Shaw's previous book Turning the Tables is an exploration and a celebration of the incredibly intricate workings of professional kitchens and dining rooms. He weaves an intriguing tapestry of journalism, opinion, how-to, and social criticism, to deliver an unprecedented look at every aspect of the restaurant community. Shaw provides an unrivaled examination of a world that remains hidden to most - the world behind that swinging kitchen door.
A former attorney who began his second career as a food critic in 1997, Shaw’s writing has appeared in scores of publications. Online he is known as “The Fat Guy” and is the founder and publisher of Fat-Guy.com and the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters (www.Egullet.org). Offline, he is the food columnist for Elle magazine, and he covers food and culture for Saveur, the New York Times, Crains New York Business, Commentary, New York Lawyer, and many other journals. Named by Food & Wine magazine as one of the 35 most fearsome young talents in food and a Best Food Writing selection many times over, he is insightful, irreverent, and often controversial.
Shaw lives in New York City with his wife and son.
Praise for Steven A. Shaw and Turning the Tables
“Chefs and restaurateurs should be warned that the jig is up. Egullet’s prolific and savvy, irreverent Fat Guy has told all of their secrets, with enough tips on inner workings to enable even the least celebrated restaurant buffs to get their money’s worth at the hottest, snootiest joints. Not only that, he has done it with great style and humor, making this a delicious read.”
— Mimi Sheraton, author of Eating My Words
“Anyone thinking of going to culinary school needs to read Turning the Tables before writing the first tuition check.”
—Florida Times-Union
“Shaw knows a lot about restaurants and how they work, so he provides a lot of interesting and useful information. Moreover, he’s not a food snob; a hot-dog stand in Connecticut gets as much applause from him as an expensive, trendy vendor of haute cuisine in Manhattan.”
—Washington Post Book World
“Whether he’s dining at one of celebrity chef Alain Ducasse’s French restaurants or seeking a fried bologna sandwich in a Canadian bar, Shaw can be counted on for the funny, blunt and sometimes controversial opinions that have helped make him a heavyweight in the culinary world.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Turning the Tables is packed with useful information. An enjoyable guide through the restaurant world, it can make an amateur eater into an expert who knows how to snag a table at a top restaurant and what to do when he gets there.”
—New York Daily News
“Steven Shaw’s Turning the Tables takes the reader behind the scenes and shows how restaurants run and how one’s dining experience can be maximized...”
—New York Sun
“Turning the Tables is pure crack for foodies looking for more ‘inside’ information on the restaurant world.
—Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential
“...sound, neighborly advice on getting reservations...briskly tough...and quite courageous in his assaults on the Times’ reviewing.”
—The New Yorker
“Shaw dissects everything from reservation systems – scarily specific these days, some track favorite tables, no-shows, even how strong to brew your tea – to restaurant reviews and the intricate path your food takes to thetable.”
—Fortune
“Steven Shaw tells you how to get exceptional service every time.”
—Newsweek
Praise for Asian Dining Rules:
"Read this book before eating at an Asian restaurant...you'll be a step ahead"
— Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto
"With Shaw's Dining Rules under your belt, you'll be ordering like a regular."
— Martin Yan, cookbook author and host of the Yan Can Cook Show
"Steven Shaw's Asian Dining Rules is a refreshingly useful handbook that demystifies the cultural chasm so many Americans have experienced with Asian restaurants. It's dotted with road-tested tips from one of our nation's most seasoned, engaging, and enthusiastic restaurant experts, who once again puts the patron in a position to get the very most possible pleasure from each meal out-as well as taken out!"
— Danny Meyer, restaurateur and author of Setting the Table: The Power of Hospitality in Business
"What impresses me about Steven Shaw is not that he's mastered Asian decorum, but that he's mastered almost everything in the food world. Nobody should be that gifted. I'm twice his age, and I'm constantly learning from him."
— Alan Richman
"Steven Shaw is the dining companion we all yearn for when eating unfamiliar foods in unfamiliar places: He is warm, wise, and goes out of his way to make us feel as informed (and well fed) as possible."
— James Oseland, editor-in-chief, Saveur, and author of Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore
"As you order the shrimp fried rice and General Tso's chicken for the eight hundredth time, you eye the guests to your left. They have, apparently, seen a secret, far superior menu. Hungry reader, they read this book."
— Phoebe Damrosch, author of Service Included
"Whether you're a General Tso's Chicken freak who has a hard time using chopsticks or an ultra-refined sushi aficionado looking for your next fugu fix, you're sure to find something informative, entertaining, and/or diverting in Steven Shaw's Asian Dining Rules. Shaw's book is a refreshingly unsnobby and discerning must-read for any serious Asian food eater."
— Ed Levine, founder, SeriousEats.com
"Steven Shaw has performed a great service and excuses for unimaginative and timid ordering in Asian restaurants are no longer allowed. Asian Dining Rules significantly expands our eating horizons and we don't even have to leave the neighborhood. For millions of diners this means it's a potentially revolutionary, and essential, book."
— Ian Jackman, author of Eat This: 1001 Things to Eat Before You Diet