Interview: Bill Addison, San Francisco Chronicle Food Critic
Imagine eating at 85 taquerias in 10 weeks. More than 100 burritos. Nearly 300 tacos. Not all of them good. So is the life of my old friend and the newest food critic at The San Francisco Chronicle, Bill Addison. He gave me the scoop on being a food critic and let me get in on some of the action.
For as long as I’ve known Bill, he’s been a lover of good food. As a wee lass, I remember watching him repeatedly exclaim over the tenderness of the roast chicken at my sister’s graduation dinner. He explained that his interest was not a result of his mom’s cooking (apparently she’s “a terrible cook, God love her, she tries”). Rather his love came from the fortune of having many fine dining experiences growing up. That passion led him from studying music to becoming a pastry chef and later a James Beard Foundation-nominated writer.
It was the third visit to Zagora, a Moroccan restaurant in the Mission District. The restaurant recently had a change in management, so he wanted to ensure that his evaluation was correct. He typically visits most restaurants two to three times. Since Bill is new to the SF reviewer scene, he is able to stay anonymous and capture the experience of an ordinary customer. This includes credit cards in three different names.
It was an entertaining experience as we perused the menu and ordered dishes to test the chef’s range — salad, meat, seafood and dessert. Being a newbie to Moroccan food, he explained to me how specific dishes should taste and be prepared. For instance, the bastilla, a strange pastry of phyllo dough topped with orange blossom water, powdered sugar and macadamia nuts stuffed with savory chicken flavored with saffron. He explained that the challenge is to not dry out the chicken since it is cooked before being wrapped in phyllo. I like the sweet and salty combination as much as anyone, but can someone explain this one to me?
On the ride home from the restaurant we discussed the art of the review. It’s easy to comment on the basic craft of the food and whether it is good, but Bill aims to take the review to another level and give readers the sensations of the eating experience.
Many people may view being a food critic as a dream job, but they don’t realize that it has its, as with any job, aside from the weight gain. Out of every ten restaurants Bill tries, eight are terrible to okay, one is good, and then one is “oh thank God, finally!”
So now when I go to a good restaurant on the basis of a review, I will be grateful to the critics who had to take the culinary bullets so I wouldn’t have to.
