In ambitious film producer Dianne Angel’s memoir Every Restaurant Tells a Story, old Hollywood glamour is tinged with tragedy and motifs of potential danger. We enter smoky, booze-filled, elegant restaurants, hear old-time clever, and crass, writers’ room dialogue, and revel in the lush descriptions of clothing and accessories. 

Each chapter involves food or drinks at a different restaurant or bar, hence the memoir’s title. These venues range from Hollywood to low-income student neighborhoods in Los Angeles to still-Communist Eastern Europe to South Africa during apartheid. Although sheltered as privileged Americans in the entertainment industry, the characters still get glimpses of the rest of the world’s injustices and traumas. Planes divert their course due to political unrest abroad, Black restaurant servers have to leave to make it out of South African cities before racially based curfews, and intriguing acquaintances have massive gun collections. 

There’s often a dirtier, menacing, or just more ordinary underbelly to the tales. AIDS cuts short vibrant, creative lives, whirlwind engagements turn out to be financial scams, naive aspiring starlets dine unknowingly with armed international spies. This world is also unpredictable: the most hilarious, creative, heartfelt, or meaningful projects can be suddenly canceled on a whim, even after filming has started. The suspense adds mystery and texture to the chapters, as we find ourselves reading some of the short vignettes over to see if we missed any clues to what was really happening. 

Yet, the memoir never becomes a trite, one-dimensional morality play on the vanity of pursuing fame, or money, or beauty. While there’s certainly a class structure and pecking order in this culture and no guarantee of success, these characters enjoy their experiences and can reflect on them with a sense of humor. Also, people find real love and genuine friendship in these pages, as they connect and share food and drinks. While the author’s reconnection with an old acquaintance who becomes her husband is touching (and the incident with her car is tragically hilarious!), the most tender part is how her college study group morphs into lifelong friendships. 

This collection is worth a read: entertaining, heartfelt, and a portrait of an era experienced by intriguing and memorable personalities in various times and places. In a time when people seem to gather in person less often, this book is a call to consider what we might be missing by choosing food delivery or staying at home over going out with friends or co-workers. And, mostly, it’s a charming and elegant set of stories that draws you in with drama, mystery, and grace. 

Every Restaurant Tells a Story is available here from Lost Telegram Press. 

About the author: Dianne’s career is a fascinating journey through the entertainment and technology industries. In the 1970s, driven by an aspiring film producer’s dreams, she began her work as Vice President of Project Development at Zeitman/Townsend Productions at Columbia Pictures. At Z/T Productions she wrote the screenplay, James Barry with Robert Townsend, Executive Producer. She also wrote Berlin with Robert Townsend for Z/T (neither film was produced). She developed Weekend Fathers for CBS Television. (Not produced).

In the early 1990s, Dianne transitioned her skills to Silicon Valley, where she was a Human Resources executive for high-tech companies. She has published numerous poems that highlight human frailty and triumph, in Moonshine Ink. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from UCLA. Dianne is a native of California, born in Palo Alto, California.