NY Times restaurant critics? -

[markk]

Does anybody have a list of, or can anybody name the NY Times restaurant critics of the last 25 years or sO?

[Carrot Top]

markk. . .have you tried telephoning the paper with the question? It is likely that they would be happy to provide the information. It may be that the operator sends to several wrong extensions at first, but that might be the quickest way to get an answer to this. . .

[nick.kokonas]

There is a nice article Here written by John Mariani about the history and job of being the NYT restaurant critic.

[jamiemaw]

Does anybody have a list of, or can anybody name the NY Times restaurant critics of the last 25 years or sO?

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Craig Claiborne (who began the one to four star system in 1957)

John Canaday

A.N. Other?

Mimi Sheraton

Bryan Miller

Ruth Reichel

William Grimes

Marian Burros

Amanda Hesser

Frank Bruni

Was Bryan Miller the most lucid of the lot? Although some might argue that you don't have to be Sigmund Freud to unravel Reichel's cross-dressing issues, Millers' exit reasoning (adjectival burnout) after almost ten years still makes me smile today. "I just kept writing the same phrase--'and it was good'--over and over." Complete meltdown--thank a weekly deadline and massive due diligence. I remember that Miller also was one of the first to file his road stories via email. We hayseeds out here were suitably impressed as was I when he ordered six main courses and four desserts one night--for the two of us--the NYT had that sort of budget, and we had to move on to the next restaurant right smartly.

Edited September 5, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[Pan]

Are we counting only the main restaurant reviewers, or should the regular $25-and-under reviewers be counted, too (Asimov, et al.)? What about temporary or occasional critics (Amanda Hesser, Sam Sifton, etc.)?

Mark, is this research for an article?

[Fat Guy]

If interim critics Marian Burros and Amanda Hesser are to be counted then both Frank Prial and Eric Asimov -- who have acted as interim/substitute fine dining critics -- need to be counted as well.

[markk]

Are we counting only the main restaurant reviewers, or should the regular $25-and-under reviewers be counted, too (Asimov, et al.)? What about temporary or occasional critics (Amanda Hesser, Sam Sifton, etc.)?

Mark, is this research for an article?

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No not for an article. I was reading "Garlic and Sapphires" and loving it so much I read most of it out loud to a friend (who was trying to read Harry Potter at the time) but we got to talking and laughing with her, and then tried to name all the critics and couldn't.

Thanks, all.

[Bux]

Wasn't Raymond Sokolov a restaurant review er for a while?

[russ parsons]

john hess was critic for a year. it is interesting how often that position changes. since 1975, we've had 3 critics: Lois Dwan, Ruth Reichl and S.Irene Virbila.

[rich]

While I can't name them all, I can safely say there hasn't been one for almost two years. It's a shame that such an important position in the food world has remained vacant for so long.

[Fat Guy]

john hess was critic for a year. it is interesting how often that position changes. since 1975, we've had 3 critics: Lois Dwan, Ruth Reichl and S.Irene Virbila.

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I imagine the Times position is marginally more exhausting than at any other paper: dining out ten times a week in an ultra-competitive market, writing the main bar review and Diner's Journal every week, Critic's Notebook every month, occasional travel and other features, the weekly radio and TV appearances, participation in multimedia/interactive/online efforts, co-editing the annual restaurant guide, getting beaten up in the press, always knowing you can parlay your credential into a much easier and/or higher-paying job . . . . While there are plenty of hard-working journalists out there, I bet there's not another food-writing position that's as physically and intellectually relentless as the Times position. I'm sure, for a lover of dining, it's a thrill for a time, but I doubt it's more than a medium-term assignment for anyone.

[rich]

I'm sure, for a lover of dining, it's a thrill for a time, but I doubt it's more than a medium-term assignment for anyone.

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Does this mean we're coming to the end of a term? Can Benny be far behind? Is it graduation day? Where do I send a parting gift?

[oakapple]

I'm sure, for a lover of dining, it's a thrill for a time, but I doubt it's more than a medium-term assignment for anyone.

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Does this mean we're coming to the end of a term? Can Benny be far behind? Is it graduation day? Where do I send a parting gift?

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Bruni hasn't even hit the two-year mark , so I wouldn't start planning the celebration.

[Bux]

How long was Claiborne in that chair? At the time, it seemed like forever, but I was much younger and time moved so much faster.

[jamiemaw]

How long was Claiborne in that chair? At the time, it seemed like forever, but I was much younger and time moved so much faster.

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Bux,

Something like '57 to '66 and then he returned around '68 to become food editor when the Times published so many of his books.

[Fat Guy]

Claiborne was food editor and critic for approximately 400 years, but the position was different back then. If you look at the old reviews, they're relatively simple, short and matter-of-fact. They aren't all of fine-dining restaurants (the $25 and Under column didn't exist). I can't imagine Claiborne was dining out on the same schedule adhered to by the latter-day critics, from Mimi Sheraton forward. The restaurant scene was totally different as well. Although Claiborne invented the system, Mimi Sheraton deserves credit for developing the system into the one with which we're familiar today. She was relentless and tireless. Few humans can keep up with her, even today. She set the bar high.

[Ann Hall Every, CCP]

Let's not forget that Mimi Sheraton was the critic that wrote about Rao's, despite the pleadings of Frank Pellegrino for her not to review the restaurant forcing Frank to become "Frankie NO" and having to turn down everyone calling for a table as a result of that infamous review - and then to keep his loyal and most frequent customers, having to offer them a private table Mon - Fri.!!!

For a home-made Rao's experience, I just pretend to be dining at Rao's when I entertain and serve many of their famous dishes - whilst listening to a CD with their jukebox favorites! All that's missing are the famous and sometimes infamous clientele!!

[Todd36]

I probably yikes, eat out 15 times a week. I think an issue with being a professional reviewer is that you probably need to eat 6 fancy dinners a week (give at least three shots to places that get a review, and the other three are for things you don't bother with or you just need to learn about) and several fancy lunches a week. That's a lot of food and it's going to be tiring. Still, I could do it for two or three years.....

[Fat Guy]

Sure, plenty of New Yorkers eat twenty-one meals a week out, but very few eat ten of them in restaurants with stars. I guess there's a population of super-eaters out there who can handle the quantity, but the number of people who can do that and write well about it has got to be pretty small. When I was writing weekly reviews and had the support of a well-funded publisher, I was doing four to five serious fine-dining meals a week. That's fun, assuming you never catch a cold or never find yourself not "in the mood" -- because you've got to go out and eat anyway, and write about it. But double that load and keep doing it for a couple of hundred weeks in a row, with your only breaks coming when you go to other countries on "vacation" and do the same thing there instead? Forget about it. You're no longer a food lover turned pro. You're some sort of thing hooked up to a metropolis-size feeding machine.

[jayt90]

Wasn't Raymond Sokolov a restaurant review er for a while?

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I remember Sokolov writing excellent reviews for a couple of years after Claiborne left the post. I was amazed that he remained trim and fit!

[SuzySushi]

Wasn't Raymond Sokolov a restaurant review er for a while?

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I remember Sokolov writing excellent reviews for a couple of years after Claiborne left the post. I was amazed that he remained trim and fit!

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I remember him, too. Sokolov and the NYT parted ways shortly after he wrote an article comparing different brands of dog foods via *his own* taste tests. Word is, the NYT was not as amused as I was!

[Bux]

My memory is very foggy on Sokolov. I seem to recall liking his reviews and being pissed he was fired. I also seem to recall some controversy about his short tenure. He later wrote a food column in a rather surprising magazine. I believe it was Natual History Magazine, and it was actually not so surprising as he wrote about indigenous or regional foods and traced the history and development of those foods. Generally good stuff and quite interesting.

It appears he's been with the Wall Street Journal. I think I knew that, but forgot it as soon as I knew it. He's still got the same sense of humor than led him to comparison taste dog food. From this year, his thoughts on the government's new "food pyramid."