Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life
by Mimi SheratonMorrow, 240 pp., $23.95
When it was announced that former New York Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton would appear on a panel at the recent Saveur Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, I made haste to get myself invited, too. The panel was set to discuss whether restaurant critics are really necessary, and I wanted to know what one of the most respected practitioners of our craft had to say about the subject. The festival audience witnessed a lively and informative discussion between restaurateurs and critics from New York and Texas, but I would have been just as happy to hear Mimi Sheraton speak for the entire hour. With the release of her new memoir, Eating My Words, I just got my wish.
Ms. Sheraton held the position of restaurant critic at The New York Times from 1975 until 1984, but her career as a food and travel writer spans most of the past 50 years. In that time, she has traveled the world, eating and writing about it for magazines and newspapers, as well as publishing cookbooks and a wonderful food history. According to the author, however, the eight-plus years she spent reviewing restaurants in New York City generate more public interest than the rest of her career combined. Eating My Words will certainly satisfy public curiosity about Sheraton’s tenure at the Times, and it also provides fascinating insight into “the making of a critic.” The development of critical faculties by example in her mother’s kitchen, an early exposure to and lifelong love of restaurants, and a remarkable willingness to always speak her mind are revealed as the early building blocks of Sheraton’s future career. There’s plenty of inside dish here, too, such as how the critic dealt with hate mail, overbearing editors, pretentious restaurateurs, disguises to maintain her anonymity, and weight gain. Congenial and dependable dining companions become part of her Green Beret eating team, while annoying poseurs and expense-account freeloaders rarely get a second invite.
Reading Eating My Words, I realized that, in many respects, there’s a world of difference between reviewing restaurants in New York City and Austin. Bigger expense accounts and more sophisticated restaurants notwithstanding, however, many aspects of the job are the same anywhere it’s done. Sheraton’s personal integrity and commitment to thorough research are the best examples for all critics to follow. Eating My Words should be required reading for anyone with aspirations toward a career in restaurant criticism, or any manner of food writing, for that matter. It’s also a delicious read.
This article appears in May 28 • 2004.