New York Times food critic Mimi Sheraton died Thursday, reports The New York Times. She was 97.
Sheraton was the first restaurant reviewer to wear a disguise in order to have the average diner’s experience. She dined in wigs and tinted glasses and used aliases for reservations, where people would have otherwise known her from repeat visits.
She was The New York Time’s food and restaurant critic from 1976 to 1983, and also wrote for magazines including Vanity Fair, Time, New York, and Condé Nast Traveler. She authored 16 books including “1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die.”
“The longer I reviewed restaurants, the more I became convinced that the unknown customer has a completely different experience from either a valued patron or a recognized food critic,” she wrote in her 2004 memoir, “Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life.” “For all practical purposes, they might as well be in different restaurants.” Full Story