Ruth Reichl

Danny shares ups and downs, both personal and professional, and you can't help but take away lessons you can apply to life and business.

Also, if you love restaurants, it's a fascinating look at New York City restaurant history from the '80s to today, with special appearances by lots of names you'll recognize, like Tom Colicchio and Ruth Reichl.

Danny and I talk about the book, that time the Obamas ate at Maialino, why Ina Garten is one of his mentors, why New York City will always have a vibrant restaurant culture, and he answers some of your questions about the restaurant business.

Stay tuned for my talk with Danny Meyer.

All the eggs in one basket.

Why should I listen to Ruth Reich? Right.

Exactly.

Well, you'd like to believe back then because she was an expert.

... from, from two stars.

Uh, uh, we had gotten two stars right off the bat from Ruth Reichl, and then Frank Bruni had come back and given it another two-star review.

Yeah.

And this time he gave it three stars.

I remember, you know, jeez, decades ago now, when I was a writer for the late great magazine Gourmet, she was in the test kitchen.

And our editor in chief, Ruth Reichl, would constantly be asking, "Hey, have you tried Genevieve's new recipe yet?" And if you knew what's up, your answer should have always been yes.

So hey, Genevieve.

So great to have you.

I think it was-

... and then that's the place that famously Ruth Reichl visited, um, as herself, and then she visited-

Yes

...

I'm your host, Matt Rotbard.

Ruth Reichl reviewed restaurants for the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, ran the country's most legendary food magazine, and wrote five memoirs about all the meals enjoyed and life lived.

Today, she's doing it again on her wonderful Substack, unfiltered and endlessly curious.

This conversation was recorded live at the Traverse City Food and Wine Festival, and I talk with Ruth about her University of Michigan days, her passion for memoir, and her take on where food criticism stands today.

[laughs] Yeah.

Um, well, I wanna remind everybody about Gourmet because, you know, it's been not with us for a long time, but I think, yes, it was the Bible of American food.

But I think the Ruth Reichl version of Gourmet took that Bible to the highest, the top of the mountain.

I mean, Ruth, tell us about when you entered the world of Condé Nast and Gourmet.

My final favorite, again, this one, this one is beloved.

It's Save Me The Plums by Ruth Reichl.

Ruth Reichl is really, like, by her trade is a food critic and also now, as she has, um, evolved in her career, a food writer over time.

She's written many books, but this one in particular, this is her most recent, I think.

Actually.

Yes, and My Kitchen Year is the aftermath.

Oh, really?

Like, how I, uh, I don't know if "cope" is the word Ruth Reichl-