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THE GOOD WORD Vol. 5: Local food writer Adam Erace
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
THE GOOD WORD Vol. 5: Local food writer Adam Erace
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The Good Word is a new weekly Meal Ticket feature where we ask Philadelphia food people questions. We�re going to start by highlighting the city�s many excellent food writers and bloggers, with eventual plans to extend beyond the scribeosphere. The questions will be different every week unless we come across a really sweet one we want to reuse. Want to nominate a future Good Word candidate (yes, you can nominate yourself), or submit ideas for questions? E-mail drew.lazor@citypaper.net.
In this installment of The Good Word, we�re chatting with local food writer Adam Erace. He's best-known as the restaurant critic of Philadelphia Weekly, but you can also catch his work in Philadelphia Style, New Jersey Monthly, the Courier-Post and DiningOut Philadelphia. He also runs a personal blog, and is teaming up with his brother, Andrew, to open Green Aisle Grocery on East Passyunk Avenue next month. Slow down, Adam.
PW did a great job with its 50 Must-Eats story. How many of the 50 dishes have you personally eaten? And do you have a favorite item on the list?
I wrote 23 of the items, and have eaten all 23 either during reviews, research trips, personal dining and cooking at home. I'm kind of a milkshake/malt/float/ice cream soda maniac, so the frullato from Golosa is probably my favorite on the list right now, especially given the weather. It's thick with this great cappuccino-like froth on the surface and made with really dark chocolate, which I love, and fresh fruit and spices like cardamom and cinnamon. The frullato also comes in this modern curving beaker of a glass, like something you'd find at hip housewares boutique in Rome, with a bendy straw, which, let's be honest, makes everything better.
Former New York Times culture editor Sam Sifton was named the paper's new food critic this week, and unfortunately for him, there are pictures of his face all over the Internet. Since you're a critic who tries his best to stay anonymous, what's your take on this? How much does the incognito thing really matter? Everyone knew what outgoing Times critic Frank Bruni looked like.
Anonymity is definitely important, but it's also definitely an increasingly elusive state to maintain given the Internet, Facebook, etc. That said, I'm not planning on wigs, glasses and a Gael Green hat parade to stay undercover. I find walking in (rather than making reservations), a credit card with an alias and just acting inconspicuous work well. To my knowledge, I've only been recognized during reviews a handful of times, and more often than not, it winds up being detrimental to the experience. Once I was reviewing a new spot, really splashy opening, really well-known chef, and I knew from the beginning I was made. The food was wonderful, but the service sucked. Skitterish, hover-y, an onslaught of managers coming over to see how everything was between every course. The extra attention hurt the overall experience.
Of all the meals you eat out, what percentage of them are straight-up crappy?
In a given year, during which I'm typically eating out two to three times a week, the percentage of truly crappy meals is only about 10 percent. On the other side of the spectrum, truly perfect meals are only about 10 percent, as well. The remaining 80 percent all falls somewhere in between. There are restaurants with insane food but creepy servers I feel like could strangle me in my sleep; ones with smart, well-edited beer lists but god-awful burgers; others with good looks and nothing below the surface. All these factors push a review in positive, or negative, territory. But it's rare that a restaurant doesn't have at least one redeeming quality.
Have you ever taken a date out to a review meal? If so, how does that turn out?
Taking dates on reviews either goes incredibly well, if the girl in question is really into food and curious about my job, or incredibly badly. I'm actually a pretty terrible date during a review. I don't talk much, I'll tell you what to order and eat your food while you're in the bathroom. It's an occupational hazard. You could tell me you invented Post-Its, and I'll nod along, wondering the whole time about whether that flavor in the sauce is allspice or clove.
[...] Darling's to introduce room service to The Piazza and Liberties Walk• Tangerine calls it quits• THE GOOD WORD Vol. 5: Local food writer Adam Erace• Full run-down of Valanni's new menu items under chef John Strain• Tastee D's to open [...]
[...] Shady. No, it�s Adam Erace. You might remember me from such publications as: Philadelphia Style, the Courier-Post and, lately, [...]
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