Gael Greene
Encyclopedia
Gael Greene is an American restaurant critic, author and novelist. She became New York magazine's restaurant critic in fall, 1968 at a time when most New Yorkers were unsophisticated about food and there were few chefs anyone knew by name. She was a passionate early "foodie" before that word was used. Indeed, the American Edition of The Foodie Handbook credited her with first using the word.
Given the spotlight of New York, the first city magazine, her writing gave New Yorkers a new way to think about dining out -- as theater, as seduction, as social competition -- and documented the city's growing interest in food and dining out. Articles like "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask," "The Mafia Guide to Dining Out." and "Nodody Knows the Truffles I've Seen" were early pieces in the four decades she documented the city's growing obsession with food.
Greene famously went to great lengths to conceal her identity from restaurateurs, reserving and using credit cards under other names, and wearing hats that covered her eyes in photographs, on television and in public appearances. Her writing inspired and documented the city's growing interest in food and dining out.
For more than 30 years, she served as the magazine's "Insatiable Critic" and then continued as a columnist until 2008, the magazine's 4Oth anniversary as well as her own. Then she was fired. In a New York Times article (November 25, 2008) Glenn Collins wrote: "But even among those who might have seen it coming, many were taken aback at the expulsion of the sensualist who influenced the way a generation of New Yorkers ate, and who served as a lusty narrator of restaurant life in New York for decades."
“It’s as if they removed the lions from the library steps,” quoted Michael Batterberry, editor and publisher of Food Arts magazine.
The coverage seemingly sparked a revival of interest leading to appearances as a judge on Bravo's Top Chef Masters and international requests for interviews focused on her web site, Insatiable Critic.com.
Her first novel Blue Skies, No Candy (William Morrow 1976), a best seller in both hard cover and paperback, explored the fantasies and adventures of its adulterous heroine, Kate. Her second erotic novel Doctor Love (St.Martin's/Marek1982) focused on a Don Juan seeking the meaning of love that eludes him. It is written from the male perspective.
In 2006 Warner Books publisher her memoir, Insatiable: Tales from a life of Delicious Excess, about the 40 year revolution in dining, what she ate and what she did between meals.
Her other books include Delicious Sex, " A Gourmet Guide for Women…and the Men Who Want to Love Them Better"( Prentice Hall Press, 1986)
Bite: A New York Restaurant Strategy (Norton 1972.
Sex and the College Girl (Dial Press/a Delacorte Book 1964
In 1981 with the teacher/food writer James Beard she co-founded Citymeals-on-Wheels to help fund weekend and holiday meals for New York City's frail, needy, homebound elderly. She remains an active Chair of the Board through 2011, hosting an annual Power Lunch for Women. For her work with Citymeals, Greene has received numerous awards and was honored as the Humanitarian of the Year (l992) by the James Beard Foundation. She is the winner of the International Association of Cooking Professionals magazine writing award, 2000, and a Silver Spoon from Food Arts magazine.
Her memoir Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess (2006) includes a description of a sexual encounter with Elvis Presley
.
Given the spotlight of New York, the first city magazine, her writing gave New Yorkers a new way to think about dining out -- as theater, as seduction, as social competition -- and documented the city's growing interest in food and dining out. Articles like "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask," "The Mafia Guide to Dining Out." and "Nodody Knows the Truffles I've Seen" were early pieces in the four decades she documented the city's growing obsession with food.
Greene famously went to great lengths to conceal her identity from restaurateurs, reserving and using credit cards under other names, and wearing hats that covered her eyes in photographs, on television and in public appearances. Her writing inspired and documented the city's growing interest in food and dining out.
For more than 30 years, she served as the magazine's "Insatiable Critic" and then continued as a columnist until 2008, the magazine's 4Oth anniversary as well as her own. Then she was fired. In a New York Times article (November 25, 2008) Glenn Collins wrote: "But even among those who might have seen it coming, many were taken aback at the expulsion of the sensualist who influenced the way a generation of New Yorkers ate, and who served as a lusty narrator of restaurant life in New York for decades."
“It’s as if they removed the lions from the library steps,” quoted Michael Batterberry, editor and publisher of Food Arts magazine.
The coverage seemingly sparked a revival of interest leading to appearances as a judge on Bravo's Top Chef Masters and international requests for interviews focused on her web site, Insatiable Critic.com.
Her first novel Blue Skies, No Candy (William Morrow 1976), a best seller in both hard cover and paperback, explored the fantasies and adventures of its adulterous heroine, Kate. Her second erotic novel Doctor Love (St.Martin's/Marek1982) focused on a Don Juan seeking the meaning of love that eludes him. It is written from the male perspective.
In 2006 Warner Books publisher her memoir, Insatiable: Tales from a life of Delicious Excess, about the 40 year revolution in dining, what she ate and what she did between meals.
Her other books include Delicious Sex, " A Gourmet Guide for Women…and the Men Who Want to Love Them Better"( Prentice Hall Press, 1986)
Bite: A New York Restaurant Strategy (Norton 1972.
Sex and the College Girl (Dial Press/a Delacorte Book 1964
In 1981 with the teacher/food writer James Beard she co-founded Citymeals-on-Wheels to help fund weekend and holiday meals for New York City's frail, needy, homebound elderly. She remains an active Chair of the Board through 2011, hosting an annual Power Lunch for Women. For her work with Citymeals, Greene has received numerous awards and was honored as the Humanitarian of the Year (l992) by the James Beard Foundation. She is the winner of the International Association of Cooking Professionals magazine writing award, 2000, and a Silver Spoon from Food Arts magazine.
Her memoir Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess (2006) includes a description of a sexual encounter with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.