Dave Purcell is ready to call it quits on his marriage and his restaurant. The Auk. his wife has left for a job at a "right leaning" Washington D,C, think tank and the restaurant, Like the bird has never taken off. Dishearted and desperate, Dave endeavors to consume the rare delights of his well-stocked wine celler and larder before it is repossessed by the bank. All seams lost untill Dave's neighbor Alphonse Murphy, proposes a mad, yet ingenious scheme to save the Auk. Soon the restaurant is crawling with well-heeled gastronomes, vain celebrities and bellicose politicos. However, Phonse Murphy has been up to some other tricks that have caught the attention of sinister forces, and because of Dave's involvement, it looks like the restaurant may well go the way of... the AUK. This book was not at all like i thought it would be. I did enjoy it, it was a quick read. The ending was a little weard.