Jonathan Gold, LA Times restaurant critic dead at 57

[barolo]

He died of pancreatic cancer diagnosed earlier this month. Such a loss. 

 

 LA Times Restaurant Critic Jonathan Gold Dies at 57

Edited July 22, 2018 by barolo
Correct typo (log)

[heidih]

Oh crap - such a treasure; such a loss

[heidih]

OK well I've calmed down enough to write what I'm feeling. I am Los Angeles born and lived here always and was in the forefront of embracingn the various incredible food cultures and markets. I was a fixture at Grand Central and still remember a geoduk clam siphon giving me a nudge in a Korean fish market in the late 70's.  The day I first read the Counter Intelligence column  by Jonathan Gold in the LA Times was like finding your soul mate. I read his column religiously and was inspired always.  The Pulitzer was just icing on a  King Cake. RIP - your legacy is indescribably huge

Edited July 22, 2018 by heidih (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Thank you, egullet peeps for introducing me to Jonathan Gold, of whom I had never heard, before your guidance. He was, indeed, an exceptional food writer, and will be missed. Very sad. Fortunately his writing lives on.

 

I hope he did not suffer too much. I knew one person who had pancreatic cancer over 20 years ago and she could not eat even the best of festive food toward the end. She was head of the Eastern Star in NC and would throw her napkin over her plate at fancy feasts to control her nausea. I hope medical advances saved Mr. Gold from this cruel and ironic twist of fate.

[Smithy]

I had no idea that he was ailing. His voice on the KCRW podcast was so lovely, and his writing so delightful, I almost felt that we'd met. RIP, Jonathan. Thank you for the tours.

[IowaDee]

Oh  I'll miss him so much.  After I saw City of Gold, I just knew we shared at least one gene.  Seeing the shot of his

stair steps pilled high with books I felt we were cousins at least!  He gave voices to so many small restaurants, especially

those which  filled a special ethnic niche.  I suspect he had a large part of putting Korea Town on the map and he rarely met

a taco truck he didn't like.  He was a unique, one of a kind treasure and Los Angeles was so lucky to have him.

[dans]

RIP Mr Gold. I am sorry to see you go.

 

Pancreatic cancer is a horrible disease. Typically it goes undiagnosed until it is too late. The 5 year survival rate is up to 9% now. It was about 5% when my wife was diagnosed 4 years ago. Thankfully she is still with us although she is still getting chemo.

 

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a great organization. They fund research and have support groups.

[Maison Rustique]

😞

[blue_dolphin]

An ill advised early afternoon iced coffee meant I couldn't sleep last night and spent hours and hours reading remembrances, his reviews and recipes and listening to his bits on podcasts. 

Lots of links from the LA Times here: A note to our readers: The Times has lifted its paywall on Jonathan Gold coverage

 

 

I especially appreciated this one: Jonathan Gold, the cook: Favorite recipes from our Restaurant Critic. In several of the recipes, he uses his trademark second person writing style to bring us into the kitchen instead of the restaurants.

 

Wrenching to lose a powerful community builder at a time when it's so needed. 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

[heidih]

@blue_dolphin  thanks for the links - my eyes ae still raw...

[dans]

18 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 She was head of the Eastern Star in NC and would throw her napkin over her plate at fancy feasts to control her nausea. I hope medical advances saved Mr. Gold from this cruel and ironic twist of fate. 

 

Nausea and blood counts are the hardest to control. They have come a log way with meds to control it. Not cheap, but very effective. Emend works wonders on nausea as long as you get ahead of it. Neulasta and neupogen can rebuild you white cell counts, again they are not cheap.

[heidih]

So back to the man we love - Blue-Dolpin has some great links  http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-jonathan-gold-chef-tributes-20180721-story.html

Edited July 22, 2018 by heidih (log)

[IowaDee]

I just moved City of Gold to the top of the Nexflix queue.  Loved it the first time and I'm sure it will be a bitter/sweet  repeat this time around.

 

 

[barolo]

Remembering the Inimitable Jonathan Gold , Corby Kummer in The Atlantic 

[heidih]

Anothe lovely rememberance  https://www.theringer.com/2018/7/23/17601794/jonathan-gold-food-critic-la-times-obituary-in-memoriam

[liuzhou]

In tribute to the man, the LA Times has lifted its paywall on Jonathan Gold coverage.

 

Quote

Los Angeles Times owners Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and his wife, Michele, said in a note to the staff today about the death of Jonathan Gold: “Jonathan was a national treasure. He was the only food writer to win a Pulitzer Prize for his lyrical accounts of the Los Angeles food scene. He represented the best of L.A. He captured the stories of Los Angeles’ communities and inspired people across the vast expanse of L.A. to explore our city.”

 

To help you explore Jonathan Gold’s Los Angeles, we have lifted the paywall on our coverage of his death from pancreatic cancer and the many tributes to his legacy — as well as his guide to L.A.’s 101 Best Restaurants.

 

More here.

[heidih]

L.A. food writer Cathy Chaplin who was mentored by J. Gold posted this note to him today - it spoke to me  https://gastronomyblog.com/

[barolo]

Eater has compiled remembrances and profiles here.

 

This 2009 New Yoker profile is also worth reading The Most Adventurous Eater In America 

[blue_dolphin]

Nice tribute from Jonathan Gold's brother, Mark: 

He bridged cultural divides and saved the sharks: Jonathan Gold's brother remembers his impact

[heidih]

Eater posted these images from Saturday's "City of Gold" lighting tribute.  https://la.eater.com/2018/7/30/17631354/city-turned-gold-iconic-buildings-jonathan-photos

[heidih]

PS:  On a clear day I can see at least the US Bank Tower from home but unfortunately the haze from the fires and the ambient light did not allow me to distinguish the tribute.

[blue_dolphin]

Also, last week's episode of Evan Keiman's Good Food on KCRW was a tribute to Jonathan Gold.  It's available on the podcast. I love the part about his speech style and deciding how many of his long aaaaaaannnnnnds to include or edit out of his audio pieces.

The second hour was a compilation of his restaurant reviews and a guest DJ piece he did for KCRW.  That part wasn't included in the podcast but some of it appears in the Good Food blog on this page.

[Smithy]

I would like to have seen that. The photos are beautiful.

14 minutes ago, heidih said:

Eater posted these images from Saturday's "City of Gold" lighting tribute.  https://la.eater.com/2018/7/30/17631354/city-turned-gold-iconic-buildings-jonathan-photos

 

That article linked to another one showing a wonderful Jonathan Gold mural, just painted by the artist Never.

[blue_dolphin]

Not that anyone can actually replace Jonathan Gold, but some months after his passing, the LA Times added restaurant critics Bill Addison, formerly roving national critic at Eater and Patricia Escárcega, a native Southern Californian most recently working as a dining critic in Phoenix.  In April, after years of staff purges under previous ownership resulted in it being reduced to a page on Saturday, the LA Times re-established a standalone print edition Food section under the direction of Peter Meehan, former editor of Lucky Peach.  Cookbook author Genevieve Ko and Ben Mims, formerly test kitchen director at Lucky Peach were added to the staff that also includes Lucas Kwan Peterson,  Andrea Chang, Jenn Harris and Amy Scattergood.  

 

That's a long winded intro to sharing a link to this week's Food section which is devoted entirely to memories of Jonathan Gold.   One of the articles is a full page of Gold quotes plucked from many reviews and the online version, A collection of Gold-isms, trumps the print edition as it contains links to the original reviews.