Here's some good news, for a change, from The New York Times:
"William Grimes, who reviewed restaurants for The New York Times for nearly five years, will become one of the paper's three book reviewers, focusing on nonfiction, Jonathan Landman, the culture editor of The Times, has announced. Mr. Grimes, who stepped down as chief restaurant critic at the end of 2003, has spent most of this year writing reviews of consumer products and recounting his experiences under the heading 'Just Browsing.'"
I met Grimes, known to his intimates as "Biff," about a decade ago, as he covered an AEI symposium on American culture hosted by Ben Wattenberg, featuring erstwhile Supreme Court Justice Robert Bork. In the panel discussion, I compared Madonna to Gypsy Rose Lee, the legendary stripper. Bork objected, pointing out that he had seen Gypsy Rose Lee (in the flesh as it were), and that Madonna is no Gypsy Rose Lee. That interchange caught Grimes' ear, was noted in his New York Times coverage, and I was labelled a "pro-Madonna scholar." I think Bork was embarrassed to be revealed as a judge of the stipper's art as well as the Founder's intent. Result: I was never again asked to appear on an AEI culture panel.
After that, in a retreat from think-tankdom, I got to know Grimes a little bit. We had drinks together at the legendary Algonquin's Blue Bar. He did know his mixology! I followed with interest his dilemmas as a restaurant critic, the controversy over some of his negative reviews, the challenges of having to eat out all the time (be careful what you wish for, you may get it), and remaining anonymous; and his final move to a shopping column. When he praised Netflix, I subscribed. Grimes is an author as well as a critic. He wrote a cute, slim, little book, My Fine Feathered Friend about a chicken who lived in his backyard, as well a charming history of the cocktail, entitled Straight Up or On the Rocks; and a food dictionary, Eating Your Words: 2000 Words to Tease Your Tastebuds,
He's one of the best writers at the Times. And, he has a Ph.D. in Russian Literature from the University of Chicago, so can read Anna Karenina in the original.
