December 20, 2006 Food + Drink » Food + Drink Features

        
Tweet

  Pin It
  
Email

Print

    Favorite
  Saving…
Share

Eating Crow

Scolded by Sheraton

By Suzanne Podhaizer

Nothing prepares you for that initial scathing letter to the editor. My first round of hate mail - generated from a piece on the NECI-run cafeteria at Montpelier's Vermont College/Union Institute - drove me to the Internet in search of solace. More specifically, to the eGullet forum. With a post titled "Critics need love, too," I queried "food journalists of all varieties": "How do you deal with your hate mail? Do you post it on your dartboard? Correct your critic's spelling? Forward it to your friends so they can console you? Make me laugh . . . I need it!" Just a few minutes later, a person who identified herself as Mimi Sheraton - the former New York Times food critic - responded, "To tell the truth, some of us thrive on hate mail . . . It means we have hit the mark." She offered a second serving of wisdom: "Re: Title of this thread. The need for love is a fatal flaw in a critic in any field, not only food." Now we know.

Got something to say? Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!

Tags: Food + Drink Features, food

        
Tweet

  Pin It
  
Email

Print

    Favorite
  Saving…
Share

More Food + Drink Features »

More by Suzanne Podhaizer

A Single Pebble to Mobilize Its Menu With Food Truck

by Suzanne Podhaizer
Jul 26, 2017

Middlebury's Coriander Aims to Please

by Suzanne Podhaizer
Jul 25, 2017

St. J to Get New Café in Neko Case Building

by Suzanne Podhaizer
Jul 12, 2017

About The Author

Suzanne Podhaizer

podhaizer@sevendaysvt.com

Bio:
Contributor Suzanne Podhaizer is an award-winning food writer (and the former Seven Days food editor) as well as a chef, farmer, and food-systems consultant. She has given talks at the Stone Barns Center for Agriculture's "Poultry School" and its flagship "Young Farmers' Conference." She can slaughter a goose,... more