For The Love of Good Food is an account of Serge Dansereau’s apprenticeship and training in Canadian hotels, of his progress to being executive chef of the Regent in Sydney and of his current status as chef-owner of the Bathers’ Pavilion on Balmoral Beach, Sydney. Very important on the way was Dansereau’s use of the Regent’s buying power to drive the growth and supply of Australian quality produce. His book is all about food, ego, kitchens and Sydney, and it is full of engrossing professional detail. I read it as if it were a novel. Remember Arthur Hailey’s big novels on dry subjects, with dull titles and tens of millions of sales? Hotel and Airport sales were not driven by plot or character or the quality of the prose; there wasn’t even much sex or shopping. What drove sales was our desire to know how things really work on the inside. We are a nosy lot.