OMAVORE

My Edit is a blog that does what I look for

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:44:20 -0500

My Edit is a blog that does what I look for:

Jentine is an amazing thrifter and seems like a really nice person, too.

...and Leandra Medine's response.

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:35:00 -0500

As a reader of many, many fashion blogs, including Leandra’s, I am always wondering if what they are wearing was gifted to them or if what they are wearing was something they chose to wear and bought themselves. It gets even more difficult to figure that out when what they are wearing is both entirely exclusive and incredibly expensive. Sure, I have some fancy shoes and expensive handbags in my own closet — but most are second hand or ebayed or otherwise. Who wouldn’t want to be sent beautiful clothes and accessories for free in the mail and just asked to wear them?

I wish I knew of more bloggers who do what I do that I could really identify with. I want someone who mixes second hand with one designer piece they saved months and months to buy. Someone who scours thrift stores until they find what they are looking for instead of just being sent something expensive. I guess I fall somewhere in between Menkes and Medine.

And I guess my work as a critic influences me, too. If all I did was write about free meals that restaurants invited me to eat, that would certainly de-legitimize my point of view and my opinions.

Food and fashion for thought this morning.

The Circus of Fashion

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:21:27 -0500

The Circus of Fashion:

Suzy Menkes on the state of fashion week.

hellothisisfood: Happy 4th of July! Everyone enjoy your food...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:36:10 -0400

hellothisisfood:

Happy 4th of July! Everyone enjoy your food and fireworks :D

So pretty, via here.

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:27:34 -0400

So pretty, via here.

"That night, while grandmother was getting supper, we opened the package Mrs. Shimerda had given her...."

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 09:57:00 -0400

“

That night, while grandmother was getting supper, we opened the package Mrs. Shimerda had given her. It was full of little brown chips that looked like the shavings of some root. They were as light as feathers, and the most noticeable thing about them was their penetrating, earthy odor. We could not determine whether they were animal or vegetable.

“They might be dried meat from some queer beast, Jim. They ain’t dried fish, and they never grew on stalk or vine. I’m afraid of ‘em. Anyhow, I shouldn’t want to eat anything that has been shut up for months with old clothes and goose pillows.”

She threw the package into the stove, but I but off a corner of one of the chips I held in my hand, and chewed it tentatively. I never forgot the strange taste; though it was many years before I knew that those little brown shavings, which the Shimerdas had brought so far and treasured so jealously, were dried mushrooms. They had been gathered, probably, in some deep Bohemian forest.

”

- Willa Cather, My Antonia

Across the Nation, Restaurant Critics a Casualty in the Demise of Newspapers, via eater.com

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:41:38 -0400

Across the Nation, Restaurant Critics a Casualty in the Demise of Newspapers, via eater.com:

The list of big cities and their critical presence is especially interesting. I’ll add Omaha:

Population: 877,110
Status: I write weekly reviews and food stories for the Omaha World-Herald; we also employ a team of freelance writers that write both reviews and food stories. Rachel Grace writes regular reviews under the moniker “Fat in Omaha” at Omahype.com. Summer Miller, along with a number of freelancers, write food stories and notes for the Omaha Reader. There’s also Food and Spirits Magazine and edibleOmaha.

Food blogs: Gastronomic Fight Club (mostly active on Facebook now); Fat in Omaha; Food Me Omaha; Distilled Opinion; which mostly covers Iowa but now and again mentions Omaha; Stalk My Kitchen, a cooking and food blog.

Who else is out there covering Omaha food?

"While I try to eat under the radar, it’s not easy. But that just makes me work harder to keep..."

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:01:59 -0400

““While I try to eat under the radar, it’s not easy. But that just makes me work harder to keep a distance from the people I cover. I don’t socialize with any chefs or restaurateurs, for instance, nor do I attend events where I might encounter them… Anonymity is nice, but it’s not essential. More important is knowing what you’re writing about, being fair and presenting your findings in entertaining ways.””

- Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema on anonymity, via eater.com

Gael Green is the latest critic to lose her job.

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:15:18 -0400

Gael Green is the latest critic to lose her job.

"With the new grass fed beef, we’re all going to have to learn to lard, because this meat will..."

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 23:38:20 -0400

“With the new grass fed beef, we’re all going to have to learn to lard, because this meat will be much less tender and flavorful than the fine grain fed beef we have enjoyed for years.”

- James Beard, chapter 5, “know your cooking terms,” James Beard Simple Foods. Essay published originally in mid-1970s

"It is the critic, conventionally, who often supports or analyzes culture against the grain of..."

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:45:20 -0400

“It is the critic, conventionally, who often supports or analyzes culture against the grain of popular tastes, indifference, or hostility. In the best of circumstances, the critic serves as a kind of aesthetic mentor, introducing an audience to challenging, little-known, or obscure works or offering insights that might make a work more accessible, engaging, profound, or relevant.”

- The Crisis of Criticism, edited by Maurice Berger

What I'm reading

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:01:55 -0400

What I'm reading:

Not long ago, the fate of a film or Broadway show rested in the hands of the critics. Producers and directors could be found in Sardis opening night waiting nervously for the reviews in the late edition papers. A film would fail with a pan from Pauline Kael. An artist’s work would instantly increase in value if celebrated by the right papers. But what is the purpose of the critic today? Are they the legislators of cultural tastes, or a conduit for the public’s understanding of art? Why are these people entitled to dictate what is good or bad, and who is listening anymore? Maurice Berger assembles the top critics in each field to address the problematic nature of the critic’s authority and responsibilities. Contributors include Richard Martin, bell hooks, Jim Hoberman, Arlene Croce, Wayne Koestenbaum, and others.

The New York Times' "Critical Shopper."

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:04:02 -0400

The New York Times' "Critical Shopper." :

Always a favorite of mine because of lines like this, from a review of Nicholas Kirkwood’s store: “His heels might be prudent squares; or skyscraper rectangles; or space needles, some with a little wavy indentation near the bottom, as if to suggest the imminent stumble ever threatened by the meatpacking district’s cobblestone streets.”

The New York Times/The Sweet Spot/Who Cares about critics?

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:27:00 -0400

The New York Times/The Sweet Spot/Who Cares about critics?

A conversation

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:25:44 -0400

Last night we went to a lovely wedding reception and there was an artist there whose work I once quite negatively reviewed. My long-ago review came up in conversation, not with the artist himself, but with another friend who read it and reminded me of it.

I searched through my email today for the artist’s name, and I found the old review. It’s not as scathing as I remember and the writing isn’t that hot — it’s very “I’m studying art criticism.” What sticks with me is the lesson I learned from the hubbub that review created.

There’s a person behind art. There’s a person behind film, music and food, too. Art isn’t static. It’s alive. And that’s important for a critic to remember no matter what they think.

From fellow World-Herald critic Kevin Coffey, on criticism.

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:09:00 -0400

From fellow World-Herald critic Kevin Coffey, on criticism.

Leftovers. (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:21:57 -0400

Leftovers. (Taken with instagram)

Somewhere between time zones. (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:56:11 -0400

Somewhere between time zones. (Taken with instagram)

Lanterns in the hutong. (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 20 May 2012 06:46:15 -0400

Lanterns in the hutong. (Taken with instagram)

Tofu and meat on sticks. (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 20 May 2012 06:45:28 -0400

Tofu and meat on sticks. (Taken with instagram)