David Kamp Weighs in on Mimi Sheraton's Curmudgeonliness

Following former Times critic Mimi Sheraton's dis of both Brooklyn dining and the Dining Section's coverage of it (among other things), popular food world writer and author of United States of Arugula, David Kamp posts on his website about his own experience trying to interview her years ago for his book. She thought he was full of crap too, telling him to abandon the Arugula idea, because it was based on "false hype."

More interesting is Kamp's tale of someone who was even more curmudgeonly than Sheraton. Food historian Karen Hess, whom he also interviewed, wrote 1977's The Taste of America, that Kamp says "is one of the nastiest books I’ve ever read, a scorched-earth critique of Sheraton, Craig Claiborne, Julia Child, and their ilk that makes Anthony Bourdain sound like a host on the OWN network." Hess even kept a laminated Sheraton review on her wall, covered in comments, corrections, and exclamation points. Bottom line: there have always be olds around critiquing the "fads" of the day, yearning for dining days of yore. Now it's Mimi's turn.
· On Mimi Sheraton and Curmudgeonliness [David Kamp via @amandahesser]
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