Gael Greene was an influential food writer as the longtime restaurant critic for New York magazine.
- Died: November 1, 2022 (Who else died on November 1?)
- Details of death: Died at an assisted living facility in New York City of cancer at the age of 88.
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Pioneering foodie
Greene was working as a reporter for the New York Post when she was asked to be the restaurant critic at the just-launched New York magazine. She hadn’t written about food before, but she took the job and dove into the new assignment, becoming a legend over the 40 years she wrote for the magazine. Greene influenced generations of New Yorkers as they decided where to eat and built a world-class food scene in the city. Wearing a hat pulled low over her eyes to dine incognito, she was known for her sensual descriptions of dishes she loved. She is believed to have been the first to use the term “foodie,” including it in a 1980 review. After being unexpectedly fired from the magazine in 2008, Greene joined “Top Chef Masters” as a judge in the cooking competition show’s first three seasons. In addition to her food writing, Greene also wrote erotic novels including “Doctor Love,” the memoir “Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess,” and several other books. She was the cofounder and chairwoman of Citymeals on Wheels, a charity providing meals to the elderly.
Notable quote
“I was always the only adventurous diner in a family of fussy eaters. How did I come to blossom in this strait-laced clan? Mom’s modest spice rack included rarely-used garlic salt, but I’d never seen as actual organic garlic bulb in this kitchen. There was one lone cookbook on a shelf with two pairs of cute little animal salt-and-pepper shakers beside the Settlement Cookbook, violated and bruised, rudely grease-stained, its spine long-ago broken. And yes, the shakers were empty.” —from a 2020 entry on Greene’s blog, Insatiable Critic
Tributes to Gael Greene
Full obituary: The New York Times
