NOT BITING
YOU can't throw a rock without hitting someone who doesn't want to be the next New York Times restaurant critic. First, former New Yorker literary editor Bill Buford turned his nose up at the offer. Next, we're told they asked novelist Jay McInerney , but he didn't bite, having just signed on for another year as wine columnist for House & Garden. Sources say British author Julian Barnes also found the grind unappetizing while San Francisco Chronicle foodie Michael Bower almost lost his lunch at the prospect. (Bower says he never met with anyone from the Times.) Meanwhile, the paper is still on its second "interim" critic, Amanda Hesser . Will it need a third?

i was hating on amanda hesser but her no star review of the new restaurant at the maritime hotel perked me right up...
- big jimmy 4-01-2004 5:35 am [add a comment]

More dirt from P6 (you think I'm gonna stoop to the Times?)

TIMES REVIEW LEAVES BAD TASTE

FOODIES were abuzz yesterday over the public spanking the Times administered to temporary restaurant critic Amanda Hesser. The "Editor's Note" on Page 2 was prompted by Hesser's rave last week for Spice Market, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new Meatpacking District eatery with a menu supposedly inspired by the street vendors of Asia. Hesser - the only reviewer to award Spice Market three stars - "should have disclosed" previous associations with Vongerichten, who wrote a fawning jacket blurb for her book, "Cooking for Mr. Latte." Vongerichten gushed: "Amanda Hesser's charming personality shines as the reader experiences the life and loves of a New York City gourmet. 'Cooking for Mr. Latte' is perfectly seasoned with sensuality and superb recipes." The Times didn't mention that Hesser, in reviewing Asiate earlier this year, slipped in a plug for Vongerichten's flagship eatery, Jean-Georges. After bashing Asiate, Hesser praised the view from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at the Time Warner Center. "The pressures of city life ease a little," she wrote. "And for that alone, I might order a glass of sake, stay for the gougeres, then feign illness and steal across Columbus Circle to Jean Georges for a meal that never disappoints."