A Time Well Spent: A Biography of Jerome Brody

In this biography of restaurateur Jerome Brody, Freundlich (president of New York book packager Freundlich Communications) brings to the fore the man originally behind Restaurant Associates, the company that invented theme restaurants and fine American dining with such Manhattan eating places as the swank Four Seasons and Mama Leone's. The story of that company's development, Brody's subsequent removal and later building of his own restaurant empire, including the Grand Central Oyster Bar, is an interesting one, particularly in business and financial terms. But unfortunately, Freundlich spends too much time extolling the virtues of Brody and his ""adored"" second wife, Marlene. Freundlich repeats often that Brody, not Joe Baum, was the brains behind Restaurant Associates, mentioning ""Baum's lifelong penchant for taking credit for all aspects of a restaurant's success whether or not he had anything to do with it."" Brody's divorce from his first wife, whose father owned Wechsler Coffee Company, is glossed over, as is any personal information, so much so that his oldest daughter's death in 1972 is dispatched in a single sentence, with no cause of death provided. Famous names are dropped with the weakest of associations (i.e., author Michael Ondaatje is mentioned as a family friend of Brody's second wife). Brody eventually climbed his way back, creating, among other establishments, the private club Raffles and L' toile, pausing in between to breed racehorses. In the end, this biography of Brody is warmed-over fare. (Feb.)