Does being a restaurant critic require any special training?
Adam Platt: I think basically that’s what it requires and it requires– I think you have to be able to sit in a restaurant for a long time but you have to be able to- you have to enjoy it first of all. You have to enjoy at least eating and eating all sorts of strange foods ‘cause if you don’t you won’t communicate any of that in your writing. And what you’re doing when you’re a critic– You’re judging these restaurants ostensibly but you’re really communicating the experience and whether good or bad and so if you’re bored all the time or feeling dyspeptic all the time or just if you don’t like food you’re not going to last very long and you’re probably not going to be that fun to read either. Question: What do you make of people who criticize Frank Bruni for his lack of food training? Adam Platt: Well, I’m- I think Frank Bruni’s a great critic and I don’t- I think we’re writers first of all and like I said our job is to communicate sort of what’s happening because most of the people wh
