Dara Moskowitz Please Move to California

I see on other blogs links to favorite food writers so here's my entry. Dara Moskowitz you say. Who's she? Restaurant reviewer for City Pages Minneapolis that's who.

She's got the perfect balance for a food critic. She has personality, she's funny but in a non-annoying way, she's willing to educate her readers about not only food but the importance of supporting local businesses, she's fair although the link to this article might make her seem otherwise, she's just catty enough unlike the British press who are fun to read but you'd shudder to be on the receiving end and most importantly, she seems to be knowledgeable about food.

I say seems because I've never eaten anywhere she's reviewed so I don't know if I can really trust her palate. Maybe her local readers will tell me she is completely off the mark but I don't think so.

Part of her appeal for me is she is thoroughly entrenched in her location. She knows the history of the town, palates of her readers and is involved in her community.

However, if she wanted to move to California, particularly Northern California, there is a job I would lobby ferociously for her to get. The daily paper which serves our area has a "food writer" who is a joke. His writing is weak, his food knowledge marginal and even as entertainment he just lacks. He's in one of the major wine producing regions of California with restaurants that are among the best in the country. Why the paper employs him is beyond me. Perhaps he has some serious dirt on the publisher.

So, though I know the hope is slim, please Dara, come enjoy California. We need you.

Comments

[cedichou]

I hope your local food reviewer does not read your blog. Dara is a good writer. It's hard to read a food review if you are not directly concerned with the place (ie. should I go or not?), but she pulls it off. And the choucroute bread pudding, I want to try that.

[haddock]

Oh, I wish he would read it. I'm not worried about a negative review though since it took him 5 years to get here in the first place and I doubt a return visit is in the works.

I couldn't stand this guy well before he reviewed our place. Not to be pompous about Northern California's place in the world of modern gastronomy but I think the people who are putting their heart into things here deserve someone who can realistically evaluate their efforts.

We get weird comments from customers and we try to examine them all and consider them on their own merits. That is, the merits given to someone who has given us their money and trusted us with their dinner. If there's something they'd like to see or an area in which we can improve I'll at least consider it. If they are unknowledgeable, oh well... they're customers and they're paying me. Reviewers however, should be held to a higher standard.

At any rate it remeains a mystery how this third rate writer has managed to keep his gig for so long.

As for me it's the egg/harissa sandwich that got me going. I think I'll have one tomorrow.

Glad you enjoyed Ms. Moskowitz.

[Kudzu]

The way that haddock and cedichou responded to Dara Moskowitz's review shows just how fine a restaurant critic she is: they wanted to eat what she described. She's unafraid of using adjectives of her own, avoiding current stylish lingo. And she obviously loves to EAT, my number one criterium for someone in her job!...Our Bay Area critic spends far too much time with his coterie in all the right places,too often ignoring the quirky, the homespun, the talented beginners among our local treasures...I would say thatif she left the Midwest it would take Ms. Moskowitz some time to get to them, but I feel that she would -- whereas our present critic also came from the Midwest and is still much too impressed with buzz and spin (and himself).

[haddock]

Well, Dara is actually from NYC and moved to Minneapolis in the late 80's. So maybe that's the difference.

[Rob]

Grow your own damn food critic. Dara came to Minnesota for Carleton College and then stayed. You'd think a Berkley grad could hack together something reasonably well.

[lmmblog]

Just found this year-old discussion as I was searching for more help from Dara. I've lived in the Twin Cities for only about six years, and am still looking for all the food sources I need. I had given up on reading local people (and on most of the local food) until I found Dara Moskowitz. Ah, I thought: she must have come here from some place else: she actually knows food, all kinds of food. And she can write. And with her I can get beyond meat and cheese at the chains or ersatz overpriced goremay.

Anyway, as someone who has nothing tangible to show for a youth (generously measured from ages 20 to 37) spent in the restaurants and food markets of San Francisco, Marin, Berkeley, and Oakland, I say: leave Dara Moskowitz alone! We need her here. I need her here. I'll live on my memories of living in the Gourmet Ghetto and follow the trail of Dara's crumbs, and you just walk out your door and follow your nose.