Dissertation for Defense-DEPOSITED
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Sponsoring Committee: Professor Amy Bentley, Chairperson Professor Rodney Benson Professor Krishnendu Ray A TASTE FOR NEW YORK: RESTAURANT REVIEWS, FOOD DISCOURSE, AND THE FIELD OF GASTRONOMY IN AMERICA Mitchell Davis Program in Food Studies Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development New York University 2009 Copyright © 2009 Mitchell Davis DEDICATION For Nate iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Completing this project would never have been possible without the help, advice, support, and encouragement of myriad colleagues, friends, and family. First and foremost I must express gratitude to my doctoral committee, professors Amy Bentley, Rod Benson, and Krishnendu Ray, for their sage guidance, patience, insight, and speedy turnarounds. I must also thank my interview subjects, Frank Bruni, Alan Richman, Mimi Sheraton, and Izabela Wojcik, whose generosity, candor, and thoughtfulness about their work enriched this project tremendously. I am indebted to many other colleagues-turned-informants with whom I have had stimulating discussions over the years that have informed my perspective on restaurants and reviewing. They include, Clive Adamson, Jennifer Baum, Bénédict Beaugé, Ed Behr, Elizabeth Blau, Anya von Bremzen, Andrew Carmellini, David Chang, Jay Cheshes, Hannah Clark, Kerri Conan, Sam Firer, Gabriella Ganugi, Karen Gilman, Laurent Gras, Dano Hutnik, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Steve Hall, Tom Kelly, Jennifer Leuzzi, John Mariani, Peter Meehan, Jean-Luc Naret, Fabio Parasecoli, Suzanne Rannie, Adam Rapoport, Eric Ripert, Adam Sachs, Bonnie Stern, and Lonni Tanner. I have come into contact with so many more people over the years who have shaped my thinking, I would never be able to remember, let alone mention them all—a group thanks to everyone. After 11 years in NYU’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, there are many people to thank who helped get me to the iv doctoral finish line. Former department chair Marion Nestle was the reason I signed up for a doctoral degree in the first place. I would never have gotten to the end without her gentle, and sometimes not so gentle, prodding. Current chair Judith Gilbride was also extremely supportive, due in part, no doubt, to her love of fine food and wine. I must also thank Lisa Sasson, with whom I’ve taught in Italy for many years. The hours we have spent comparing Italian and American foodways, not to mention the many restaurant meals we shared together, were both invaluable to my thinking and fun. The three students I began with in the fledgling Food Studies doctoral program—Jennifer Berg, Jonathan Deutsch, Charles Feldman—showed me that it was, in fact, possible to complete a dissertation in this burgeoning field. The department’s roster of faculty and students over the years have also all helped shape my thinking about food culture and restaurants during our stimulating conversations and classes. I am grateful for everyone’s contributions, even those who were not quite sure what I was talking about in doctoral seminar. I am fortunate to have been able to participate in NYU’s Feast and Famine Colloquium, in which many of the ideas expressed in this dissertation were tested. Outside the Food Studies department, I want to give special mention to professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, whose infectious enthusiasm for knowledge, teaching, and food remains an inspiration, as well as Darra Goldstein, whose support of my work via her editorship of Gastronomica, in which portions of the research for this dissertation have been published, was always encouraging. The founding of the Menus in the Media: Food Professionals and Their Publics working group organized by the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU while I was writing my dissertation could not have been better timed. I am grateful to have been invited to v participate. The entire staff of the James Beard Foundation could not have been more supportive or accommodating throughout the years I have been in graduate school. President Susan Ungaro’s support and generosity was crucial in the critical final months, as was the support of our C.F.O., Marilyn Platzer, and my staff, who picked up the slack left behind when I went into hibernation—Alison Tozzi Liu, Cia Glover, Anna Mowry, and Scott Meola. Although all of my friends (too many to name here) were tremendously encouraging, I have to give special thanks to my role models with their own Ph.D.’s—Dorita Hannah, Gwen Hyman, Andrew Klobucar, Joe Meisel, and Sharla Sava. Their continuous offers of help and advice throughout the process were very much appreciated. A shout also goes out to Suzy Goldhirsch, who read the near-final draft and provided editorial insight that no doubt made the final dissertation easier for everyone to understand. Finally, I have to thank my personal support group, my family. My sister Leslie, who knows me and the dissertation-writing process oh so well from her own experience with it, was supportive and helpful, as she is in every aspect of my life. My sister Carrie and her husband John, managed to keep tabs on how it was all going even though they had their hands full with my new niece, Sophia. My brother Sheldon and his wife Pauline kept interested and abreast without ever intruding. And last, but certainly not least, my sweet, supportive partner, Dr. Nathan Goldstein, who was willing to accommodate my sometimes erratic needs while I was writing and who was always ready with loving encouragement when that’s what I needed most. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv LIST OF TABLES x LIST OF FIGURES xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: LET’S REVIEW 1 Why Writing Is Integral to Gastronomy 13 The Historic Relationship Between Restaurant Reviews and Gastronomic Literature 17 Restaurant Reviews and Their Relationship To Restaurant Discourse 24 Methodology and Sources 27 Organization 30 II TOWARD A THEORY OF TASTE 33 A Taste for Philosophy 35 A Taste for Biomedical Sciences 43 A Taste for Psychology 49 A Taste for Science and Philosophy 53 A Taste for Anthropology 55 A Taste for Sociology 61 A Taste for Restaurant Reviews 73 III RESTAURANT REVIEWS, FIELDS OF CULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND THE SOCIAL REALM OF CULTURAL CRITICISM 75 The Field of Cultural Production 76 The Role of Critics in the Field of Cultural Production 79 The Field of Gastronomy in France and the United States 85 continued vii Taste versus Cuisine as a Cultural Product 89 American Gastronomy and Its Home in New York City 97 Restaurant Reviews and the Field of Journalism 101 Restaurant Reviews, Collective Tastes, and a Theory of Mass Opinion 110 Situating Restaurant Reviews in the Field of Cultural Production 117 IV WHO’S EATING NEW YORK?: CRAIG CLAIBORNE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE FIELD OF GASTRONOMY IN AMERICA 119 Craig Claiborne and Restaurant Reviews at the Times 124 Food Moves to the Center of the Plate 128 Weekly Reviews Debut 133 Value Becomes a Point of Distinction 139 A Culinary Consumer Advocate Arrives 147 A Focus on Entertainment in Reviews 155 Journalistic Ethics, Social Class, Philosophical Disinterestedness, and the Question of Anonymity 158 What Are They Eating Britain? 167 Other Important Critics in the New York Market 169 Gael Greene and New York Magazine 171 Gourmet and Other Magazines 176 Reviewers at Other Newspapers 183 Of Critical Importance in the American Field of Gastronomy 187 V THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE EXPERTS: THE CHALLENGES POSED BY ZAGAT, MICHELIN AND ONLINE REVIEWS 191 Zagat and the Public Opinion of Taste 194 The Michelin Tribunal Arrives in America 206 The Internet and the Potential of Online Reviewing To Reshape the Field of Gastronomy 213 The Purpose of Online Reviews 220 A Bifurcation of Reviews In Print and Online 226 VI CONCLUSION: THE ENDURING INFLUENCE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE SHAPE OF THE AMERICAN FIELD OF GASTRONOMY, AND A TASTE FOR AMERICAN CUISINE 228 The Enduring Influence of the New York Times on The Field of Gastronomy in America 230 continued viii Mapping the Field of Gastronomy in America 238 Food for Art’s Sake or Vice Versa? A Battle Of Consecration 241 A Field for American Gastronomy, A Taste For American Cuisine 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY 257 APPENDICES A UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON ACTIVITIES INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL OF EXEMPT STATUS 275 B 2008/2009 ZAGAT AND MICHELIN TABULATIONS 276 C GOOGLE TRENDS DATA FOR RESTAURANT WEB-SITE TRAFFIC 277 ix LIST OF TABLES 1 A chronology of New York Times restaurant critics 144 2 Select demographic and circulation information for print publications addressing food and/or restaurants in the New York City market 174 3 The relative resonance of New York City newspaper critics in the blogosphere 186 4 Ratio of votes to seats for a selection of restaurants in the 2003 Zagat Survey 199 5 A comparison of online reviews for Momofuku Ssäm Bar and Ago Ristorante 217 x LIST OF FIGURES 1 A sketch of the American field of gastronomy and the subfield of food journalism 239 xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: LET’S REVIEW If you are in the food world, as I am, the first thing you turn to in Wednesday’s New York Times is the restaurant review. Sometimes you even read it online late Tuesday night. If you’re feeling game, you check the star- rating odds on eater.com at the beginning of the week. You are compelled to read the review not because you want to make reservations somewhere for dinner, but because you need to know what restaurant has been anointed or trashed. You read it because the New York Times restaurant review is a topic of conversation around water coolers and in chat rooms in professional and amateur foodie circles alike.