Food Critic - Notable Food Critics

Notable Food Critics

For most of the past century, the most highly visible food critics have been those who have written for daily newspapers throughout the world and a few who have been restaurant reviewers for influential magazines, such as Gourmet in the United States. The ephemeral nature of radio and television has meant that very few food critics have used this medium effectively (as opposed to chefs who have used all media to great effect). An example is the BBC's The Food Programme. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has also used both broadcast media and print to concentrate on food production rather than presentation, starting a new column in The Guardian in September 2006.

Restaurant critics range in their approach to writing from the acerbic (such as A. A. Gill from London), to the witty/humorous (such as Terry Durack from "The Independent on Sunday") to the "been there done that" approach of Ruth Reichl of Gourmet and formerly of The New York Times. Other notable critics include Patricia Wells of the International Herald Tribune, who writes knowledgeable and perceptive articles about food and restaurants and who occasionally uses the sword rather than her usual suave style. Another was R. W. Apple, Jr., from The New York Times, who wrote long, thoughtful articles about his travels throughout the world in search of great food. Brad A. Johnson in Los Angeles is the only American restaurant critic to win both the coveted James Beard Award and the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Award for restaurant criticism.

Then there are myriad regional food critics, ranging from Nancy Leson in Seattle, to Pat Nourse in Sydney, and Stephen Downes and John Lethlean in Melbourne, who pen weekly and monthly reviews of the best of their respective cities.

Recently in Iceland the fast food critic Hákon Dagur Guðjónsson has been stirring up controversies with his brutal criticism on Iceland fast food chains. Among those who have faced his harsh judgement are well established fast food chains American Style, Serranos and Subway. His take on Serrano's caused their CEO, Emil Helgi Larusson, to comment in the comment section where he vowed to take the criticism into consideration. Most recently Guðjónsson called Subway an "insult to humanity" and criticized the staff for being unfriendly which led a heated debate in the comment section.