Who needs an excuse to dine at the city's finest restaurants? Not a restaurant critic. It's just one of the perks of the job.
But is reviewing restaurants always fun? Just what is it like to be a restaurant critic? How do they stay objective? Decide what to order? Keep their cover? Watch their diet?
Globe Vancouver restaurant critic Alexandra Gill and Toronto critic Chris Johns will be online Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET to take your questions on what it's like to be a restaurant critic. E-mail your question now.
Alexandra Gill is a Vancouver-based restaurant critic for The Globe and Mail. Her column appears in the Life section on Wednesdays. She served as the Globe's Western Arts Correspondent from 2001 to 2007. In 2005, a collection of her feature articles were nominated for a National Newspaper Award.
Chris Johns is an award winning food and travel writer. He has been published in the Best Food Writing compilation and for five years ate his way across Canada seeking out and ranking Canada's Best New Restaurants for enRoute Magazine. His writing has also appeared in Toronto Life, Maclean's, Fashion Magazine, Arrival and Western Living among others. He lives in Toronto and, when not reviewing restaurants, can often be found in the kitchen.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Andrea writes: I have always taken great interest in the job of restaurant critics and think it's pretty much a dream job. At the age of 24 and coming from a Chemical Engineering background, I often wonder how I change my career path down a similar road to yours. What is your educational background and what hurdles did you overcome to become a restaurant critic? Where is the starting point? What can a young, aspiring individual do to become a food and travel writer!?
Alexandra Gill: Hi Andrea. It is a dream job -- for those who love food. Traditionally, there have been two common paths to becoming a restaurant critic. You either begin as a restaurant professional (who learns how to write for publication) or a professional journalist (who develops a specialization in food). I followed the latter route and started writing about food, beginning with feature articles, about four years into my career. If you are seriously interested in becoming a journalist, I would suggest you enroll in some part-time night courses to develop your reporting skills and see if it's a good fit (I started this way, at Ryerson University). And then write as much as possible for whichever small publications will hire you. On the food front, eat, eat and eat some more. Cook at home, read cookbooks, take cooking classes and follow other critics (be they restaurant, theatre or music) to develop your critical chops. Working in a restaurant (on the kitchen or floor) would certainly help as well. Good luck and happy cooking!
Chris Johns: Hi Andrea, A love of food is the most important factor, obviously, but beyond that I think you need to eat widely and without prejudice. I studied English Lit and Classics at university, but spent my free time teaching myself to cook. As far as a starting point, I think every city in Canada has some kind of a food related publication. If you bring them an interesting story - profiling a talented new chef or farmer, spotting a food trend in your city, developing novel ways to utilize a seasonal ingredient – you will probably get a chance to write about it. Developing professional relationships with good editors, and being open to the process, is your best way to improve as a writer.
O. Yu writes: Chris / Alexandra thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. We all have foods we like and dislike. How do you try to balance a fair opinion when being served a food you don't like? Do you avoid those dishes altogether?
