Chapters 17 & 18 Summary and Analysis

In Keep Tasting, Ruth returns to Berkeley determined to become a caterer—but fate intervenes. A regular customer at The Swallow asks her to be the restaurant critic for his new magazine in San Francisco. With all of her experience cooking and working in restaurants, Ruth is amazed how easy it is. The editor gushes that Ruth is born to do this. Still, Ruth thinks that a restaurant critic should know something about wine. One day she stumbles into Kermit Lynch's wine shop. He recommends wines personally selected from small vineyards in France. Ruth accompanies him on his next buying trip to France, and sees for herself how heartbroken the vintners are when Kermit does not buy their wine.

In the Bridge, Ruth becomse a successful food writer, with articles published in magazines in San Francisco and New York. Yet...