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WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
I didn't grow up in a home with gormet cooking, nor did I grow up in a metropolis with an abundance of delicious resaurants to choose from. Alas, I grew up in the western Sierra Nevada, in a small mountain town, with my Mom who was a single mother, and worked two jobs. Her busy schedule kept her from long stints in the kitchen and lead her straight to the quick and easy meals. Perhaps that is what sent me nose first into a pluthera of cook books. I will never forget my first encounter with "The Silver Palate," it was not only a spiritual awakening but it was when I first found out that not everything is cooked in a crock pot. After that I have been on what some would call a pilgrimage to learn, see, experience, and taste everything that involves food. This is where I have come across Anthony Bourdain, Ruth Riechel, and Jeffery Steingarten, and I have to say, that I have been truely inspired by Mr. Steingarten. I promise I am not sucking up, I don't even want to win, I just wanted to put in my two cents. His honesty and sincereity are inspiring, and who knows more about single ingredients than he? His writings have sent me into numerous amounts hunger fits. My newest food fantasy involves a long Steingarten tour of Eurpoe, stopping at all the restaurants and B&B's he speaks so highly of, and then to come home with a waist wider than my smile. His hours spent perfecting recipies in the kitchen shows exactly how dedicated he is to his job. He always leaves me wanting more, and that is, after all, the job of any food critic, restaurant, and/or chef.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
By that measure, in my experience -- and I've followed his taste recommendations in both New York and San Francisco, in high-end restaurants as well as holes-in-the-wall -- the best food writer I know of is Ed Levine.
Glad to hear someone ackowledge that reviewing food is something that should be accible to the other 95% of restaurant goers, not just those who like to feel superior. A review of a meal that only 5% of your viewers would ever consider eating is just forgetting your audience or perhaps just appeasing yourself over them. Reviewing food in your mind is for the chef, reviewing it in your words is for readers.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
My favorite restaurant “critic†is the Zagat guide. While the consumer-based surveys are not sophisticated, they give me a sense of the restaurant’s food, service and atmosphere. I’ve consistently found their reviews to be on target and I like being able browse by ratings, top lists and location. Whenever I travel, I use the Zagat guides to orient me to the restaurant scene and give me ideas of places to try and places to avoid. Everything I want is accessible, easily read, easy to interpret, relatively trust worthy, and is contained in one very portable little red book.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
I love Trillan, Apple and the Sterns, but they don't write about restuarants I eat at, so my favorite food writer is...me! That sounds cocky, but I honestly feel I'm a damn good writer. I know about food, I'm always learning about wine and I love my job (one of the food writers for "The Tucson Weekly").
Local food critics at other publications don't share the passion, talent or knowledge I bring to my work. I've done other food related work and people always tell me that my articles make them hungry. What better compliment for any food writer?
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
I’d like to mention a food writer who has set higher standards for fearless honesty in the medium I work in, the internet. In Regina Schrambling I trust. She knows how to cook and it shows. She’s not afraid to call out a naked emperor when PR flacks are trying to sell us new clothes. She answers the simple question those of us who don’t have bottomless expense accounts ask: Will I go back? No florid sycophantism, no tenuous metaphors, just a sense of place, service, and taste in a pithy package.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Linda Bladholm writes about global cuisine for The Miami Herald with a sense of adventure, and she expertly uses language to convey the sense of the restaurant, the feel of its menu and ambiance, and the taste of its food. Her warmth jumps off the written page and her columns are extremely compelling.
I have been to several restaurants that she reviewed and found her reviews to be right on base. She is knowledgeable about the cuisine of the restaurant, and in terms of the larger context, how that cuisine fits into the uniqueness of Miami.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Calvin Trillin’s writing on food, travel, culture and life make me feel a personal connection to him and his subject matter. His infectious enthusiasm is endearing, and his command of the language gives his writing authority and clarity.
Although Trillin’s accomplishments are enviable, he never condescends. He projects a warmth and trustworthiness that make him convincing and thought-provoking. And besides feeling that it would be a privilege to know him (his dedication to his late wife, Alice, and his three daughters is inspiring), the idea of going to a restaurant that he particularly liked is just plain exciting.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Jonathan Gold is:
Versatile. Reviewed art, music, and architecture in past critical incarnations.
Nuanced. Delves deeply into regional cuisines and discusses the impact of agriculture and economics on cooking.
Virtuosic. Reviews have visceral immediacy: blowfish like a “treacherous, iridescent flower,†a “seething, volcanic mass†of tofu, “garlic-reeking Alps" of short ribs.
Entertaining. You can read “Counter Intelligence,†his anthropology of L.A. foodways, like a book of short stories.
Intrepid. If the health department closes a restaurant, he’s probably eaten pig uterus, goose intestines, or crispy frog skin there.
Indefatigable. Who else would eat at every Pico Boulevard restaurant?
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Hands down, my choice is Peter Meehan. He writes about restaurants I can afford in neighborhoods I’m not tired of going to. The big time NY critics pick greatly anticipated new arrivals and well established old timers, rarely venturing outside of Manhattan. Peter takes us to Red Hook, Bushwick, and Astoria, to hofs, taquerias, areperias, and kimchi stands. I would know nothing about the subtleties of Korean twice-fried chicken or Russian dumplings without Meehan’s articles. Additionally, Meehan is my favorite critic because he seems like he’s having fun, always mentioning the music playing in the background while he eats.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Jeff Steingarten, author of “The Man Who Ate Everything†and “It Must’ve Been Something I Ate: The Return of the Man Who Ate Everything†is a star among contemporary food writers. Jeff indulged his obsession with food by giving up a law career and becoming a food critic. He is the winner of numerous awards from the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Jeff approaches food writing with discipline and gluttony, and his writing is entertaining, thought-provoking, authoritative and witty. Jeff has been called our most original investigative food writer and I could not agree more.
- Pam@erogers.net
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Self-described “alpha hound†Jim Leff, cofounder of chowhound.com, uncovers secret deliciousness around New York and around the world. Jim leads an on-line community of adventure eaters and has written for publications such as Newsday, Slate, Wine & Spirits, The New York Times, Time Out New York. He is also a regular contributor to The Next Big Thing on NPR. Right now Jim is crisscrossing North America on a two-month delirious road trip in search of hyperdeliciousness. This eclectic and off-beat food writer will go to culinary extremes to find edible treasures that are cooked with heart and soul.
pam@erogers.net
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
There's one more criterion I'd like to add to your list: infallibility. In other words, if you follow the writer's advice, are you ever likely to have a bad meal?
By that measure, in my experience -- and I've followed his taste recommendations in both New York and San Francisco, in high-end restaurants as well as holes-in-the-wall -- the best food writer I know of is Ed Levine.
It isn't sucking up if it's true.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
I have relished the simplicities at Sushi of Gari , been transported to the briny coast of Amalfi by Le Bernardin, dreamed of lazy days and earthy cigars at Cafe Habana, felt improper at the propriety of Honmura An, tasted the bravura of real lox at Barney Greengrass, suffered disappointment at the hands of David Chang, endured the post-coital regrets of Koreatown, cried at the loss of 2nd Ave deli, laughed at overindulgence of per se, applauded the performance at Double Eight Palace, relished the company of MY diner, sipped my dreams at Milk and Honey, and hoped for acceptance at Il Mulino. But I have not yet dined with Frank Bruni.
WIN DINNER WITH ME AND A FAMOUS FOODIE!
Self-proclaimed love child of James Beard and Julia Child, Jim Harrison brings a poet's voice to food writing filtered through the lens of a writer of screenplays. He describes his meals with an almost mysticism as he hunts game birds in the woods near his Michigan home and prepares them utilizing classic French technique or dining at the top restaurants in LA and NY on the movie studio's dime. Sharing the gourmand's disease with him , i.e. gout, he made me laugh and cry when he mourns about having "one foot in the grave" (technically one toe) after overindulging.
-Guttergourmet
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I didn't grow up in a home with gormet cooking, nor did I grow up in a metropolis with an abundance of delicious resaurants to choose from. Alas, I grew up in the western Sierra Nevada, in a small mountain town, with my Mom who was a single mother, and worked two jobs. Her busy schedule kept her from long stints in the kitchen and lead her straight to the quick and easy meals. Perhaps that is what sent me nose first into a pluthera of cook books. I will never forget my first encounter with "The Silver Palate," it was not only a spiritual awakening but it was when I first found out that not everything is cooked in a crock pot. After that I have been on what some would call a pilgrimage to learn, see, experience, and taste everything that involves food. This is where I have come across Anthony Bourdain, Ruth Riechel, and Jeffery Steingarten, and I have to say, that I have been truely inspired by Mr. Steingarten. I promise I am not sucking up, I don't even want to win, I just wanted to put in my two cents. His honesty and sincereity are inspiring, and who knows more about single ingredients than he? His writings have sent me into numerous amounts hunger fits. My newest food fantasy involves a long Steingarten tour of Eurpoe, stopping at all the restaurants and B&B's he speaks so highly of, and then to come home with a waist wider than my smile. His hours spent perfecting recipies in the kitchen shows exactly how dedicated he is to his job. He always leaves me wanting more, and that is, after all, the job of any food critic, restaurant, and/or chef.