Celeb Chef Gale Gand & Tanya Steel Visit Chicago

By Liz Mannebach

Society has always painted a less-than-flattering portrait of critics. As the cold, haughty, Lurch-like restaurant reviewer from Disney's Ratatouille observes at the end of the film, "The work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment."

But criticism plays a necessary role in our culture--restaurant reviews bring in business, and five-star restaurants could not exist without someone to dish out the stars. The relationship is a symbiotic, albeit tense one.

That relationship became fodder for internet chatter recently after Chicago chef Graham Elliot Bowles, of Graham Elliot restaurant, Tweeted, "[EXPLETIVE] CHICAGO MAGAZINE!" in response to a supposedly negative review of his food offerings for Lollapalooza by Chicago Magazine writer Cassie Walker two weeks ago. [Read the Huffington Post article here]

The chef's response begs the question: Who really has the right to critique food?

At last week's Farmers' Market in Daley Plaza on July 23, one of the nation's top food writers, Epicurious.com editor-in-chief Tanya Steel, appeared alongside one of the nation's top pastry chefs, Chicagoan Gale Gand, to offer their takes.


Steel, who has been in the publishing industry since she was 21 and whose work has appeared in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and the New York Times, is now in charge one of the most popular food sites on the Web. Epicurious.com users can read and review recipes from professionals as well as other users--which technically means everyone's a critic.

"We have between 4-7 million users on the site, and most of them are critiquing recipes. There are some catty comments, but we don't tolerate negativity. It's all about inclusiveness," Steel said. While one would expect a professional food writer to be more vocal about the right of journalists to criticize, Steel emphasized the need for both sensitivity and savvy when writing about food.

"Food is a universal language. It's a love thing. You have to remember that context. I think it's unfair to be truly critical if you're not professionally trained. The industry may be helped by constructive criticism, but not necessarily from amateurs," Steel said.

"All of my editors [at Epicurious] have education and backgrounds in English or journalism, but also in cooking. It's not good enough if you just know how to write and like to cook," she added.

Gale Gand, executive pastry chef and partner at Tru, who was one of only 700 chefs tapped by the White House in May to participate in Michelle Obama's child obesity initiative, was surprisingly less critical of critics.

"I used to live in England for a few years, and worked under a chef who used to say, 'There's no such thing as bad press as long as they spell your name and get your phone number right.' Even if you get a negative review, it can turn out as a positive just by giving you attention," said Gand.

As someone who has been in the industry since she was a 'starving art school student' who began working as a waitress for the free meals, she agrees with Steel that cooking is unique among art forms in that it is a "love thing".

"I adore the chemistry and physics and magic and art of cooking. Nurturing and bringing food to people is really the best part," she said. Perhaps the reason chefs like Bowles take more umbrage to negative reviews than say, musicians or sculptors, is because cooking is an act of nurturing on the part of the chef.

But even if an amateur writer or blogger criticizes a chef or restaurant, Gand said "they have the right to do so; they're a customer like anyone else. This is an industry that's open to the public, and that does give the public validity as critics."

Gand, who has devoted much of her time to educating the public about nutrition and sustainable eating, will be serving organic fruit smoothies to parched Lady Gaga fans this Friday at the Seedling booth at Lollapalooza.

Whether or not her offerings are a hit, don't expect any furious Tweets from Gand any time soon.

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