Elegant table setting at a restaurant, representing the dining experiences reviewed in a restaurant guide.
“So, how did you become a restaurant critic?” It’s a question I’ve আনন্দ been asked countless times over 36 years, since 1988 when I started at the Orlando Sentinel. My answer has always been consistent: “I was lucky.”
While it might sound dismissive, it’s genuinely true. A series of fortunate events paved my path into this profession, eventually leading me to contribute to what could be considered, in a broad sense, a type of Restaurant Guide through my reviews and critiques.
My initial career aspirations were quite different – scriptwriter, video producer. However, life took an unexpected turn when I found myself working the graveyard shift in room service at a luxurious Scottsdale resort in Phoenix. During one quiet night, I was reading New Times, Phoenix’s alternative weekly, and an advertisement caught my eye. They were launching a food section, “Chow,” and seeking an editor. The ad emphasized a desire for a fun, fresh, and entertaining section. They needed someone with experience and writing samples – “clips,” as they called them.
I was unfamiliar with the term “clips.” However, I believed in my writing ability and my basic cooking knowledge. So, I sat down and typed a two-and-a-half page letter to the New Times. I brainstormed story ideas, outlining how their food section could stand out from typical daily newspaper food coverage. I incorporated humor and concluded by acknowledging my lack of “news clippings,” but confidently stated, “this is how I write.”
Lucky break number one: I landed the job.
Six months later, however, I lost it. This early experience, though short-lived, was the unexpected beginning of a journey that would eventually shape my expertise in evaluating restaurants – a key skill for anyone aiming to create or contribute to a reliable restaurant guide.
