Mimi Sheraton, the New York Times’ first female food critic, has died

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The New York Times reported that Mimi Sheraton, the newspaper’s food critic from 1976 to 1983 and the first woman to hold the position, died yesterday at age 97 at NYU Langone Medical Center. Sheraton, who grew up in New York, had a profound influence on modern food criticism, pioneering making reservations under false names and wearing wigs at dinner, to see how restaurants would treat real customers. The more I reviewed restaurants, the more convinced I became that the unknown customer has a completely different experience than a valued customer or recognized food critic, she writes in Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life. For all intents and purposes, they might as well be in different restaurants.

Sheraton had a reputation for being a tough and demanding reviewer, making sure she had exhaustive experience of a restaurant before giving her review. She visited restaurants far more than the three times required by her job and spent 11 months tasting the 1,196 items available in Bloomingdales food department for New York Magazine in 1972. She also worked at Seventeen and Good Housekeeping , has written numerous books including 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die and most recently was a food columnist for the Daily Beast.

When I took this job, I went to the archives and read all the reviews, and I ended up having so much respect for her. She was tough, fearless and direct, Ruth Reichl, Times critic from 1993 to 1999, told Robert D. McFadden. For the most part, I really agreed with his tastes and got a pretty good idea of ​​the person behind the reviews. The longer I was in office, the more I respected her. She was so straightforward and not afraid to offend anyone.

Several food writers have also noted on social media how Sheraton continues to use Twitter to express itself, repeatedly responding to stories about tuna melt and pasta salad with some yucky variation! And editor Laurie Muchnick wondered if reviews like Sheratons would even be possible now; I wonder if a Times reviewer could still eat in a restaurant 8 times before reviewing it or if they would be told there is no budget.

The few times she tweeted me, I never replied because I was so impressed that Mimi Sheraton said something mean to me about something I wrote. Made me feel good. https://t.co/iyzjuZlgQf

Jason Diamond (@imjasondiamond) April 7, 2023

The Sheraton’s legacy is one of brutal honesty. She pierced the hype bubble that food criticism can easily slip into, where the fact that a self-selected group of people all go to the same place begins to be confused with quality. Sheraton seemed to be comfortable calling when the Emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes, even when it came to something as simple as his appliances. As she remarked of her Dualit toaster in 2004: All the food writers in the world said it was the best. And it’s awful.

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