For Julia Pandl, the rite of passage into young-adulthood included mandatory service at her family’s restaurant, where she watched as her father—who was also the chef—ruled with the strictness of a drill sergeant.

At age twelve, Julie was initiated into the rite of the Sunday brunch, a weekly madhouse at her father’s Milwaukee-based restaurant, where she and her eight older siblings before her did service in a situation of controlled chaos, learning the ropes of the family business and, more important, learning life lessons that would shape them for all the years to come. In her wry memoir, she looks back on those formative years, a time not just of growing up but, ultimately, of becoming a source of strength and support as the world her father knew began to change into a tougher, less welcoming place.

Part coming-of-age story à la The Tender Bar, part win- dow into the mysteries of the restaurant business à la Kitchen Confidential, Julie Pandl provides tender wisdom about the bonds between fathers and daughters and about the simple pleasures that lie in the daily ritual of breaking bread. This honest and exuberant memoir marks the debut of a writer who discovers that humor exists in even the smallest details of our lives and that the biggest moments we ever experience can happen behind the pancake station at the Sunday brunch.

From Booklist

Youngest of nine siblings born to a successful suburban Milwaukee restaurateur, Pandl early on had to toil in the family business, whose major profit center was Sunday brunch. One of the third generation of hardworking immigrants’ descendants, Pandl tells with great respect how her forbears laid the foundation of a thriving business and left the family with resources enough for them to live in large homes in lakeside suburban towns. Pandl does not appreciate the too-fleshy limbs their genes also bequeathed her. Pandl’s father, whose long hours often kept him from his family, relished his brandy manhattans, and he patiently taught Pandl to operate a stick shift, even though he himself exhibited innumerable poor driving habits. Pandl’s narrative of her parents’ dotage is poignant as her father’s determination to keep himself occupied with a new eatery proves a sinkhole for his life savings. This autobiography overflows with heartfelt midwestern sensibilities. --Mark Knoblauch

Review

“Pandl’s Restaurant in Milwaukee is a Midwest tradition: What makes Julia Pandl’s memoir shine is not only its charm and humor but also its insider’s look at how high standards and love equals extraordinary food. In Memoir of the Sunday Brunch, she cooks up a delicious story that deserves a wide audience. We thank her for the memories.” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean