Adam Platt

Last updated
Adam Platt
Born (1958-07-18) July 18, 1958 (age 65)
Washington, D.C., United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Writer, restaurant critic
TitleSenior Restaurant Critic at New York
SpouseKate Platt
Children2
Parent
Relatives Oliver Platt (brother)
Signature
Adam Platt signature.svg

Adam Platt (born July 18, 1958) is an American writer and restaurant critic. [1] [2] He is currently the senior restaurant critic for New York magazine, a position he has held since July 2000, when he succeeded Gael Greene. He won the James Beard Foundation Journalism Award for Restaurant Reviews in 2009, [3] and has been nominated for the same award on other occasions.

Contents

Early life and education

Platt was born in Washington, D.C., and is the son of Nicholas Platt, the former president of the Asia Society, in New York City, and a career diplomat for the United States Foreign Service who served as U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia, and the Philippines. [4] He is the older brother of the actor Oliver Platt, who has said he used his brother's real-life eating experience to inform his performance as restaurant critic Ramsey Michel in the film Chef . [5] Platt credits his rambling childhood – the Platts lived for extended periods of time in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo — with shaping his wide-ranging and eclectic appetites. [6]

Platt is a graduate of the American School in Tokyo, Japan, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Journalism and restaurant criticism

Before becoming a full-time restaurant critic, [7] Platt wrote and worked for many publications including The New Yorker , [8] where he was a Talk of the Town staff writer, The New York Observer and Elle , where he wrote monthly columns, and Condé Nast Traveler where he was a contributing editor for many years and travelled on assignment to the Southern Island of New Zealand, Botswana, China and Tokyo. [9]

He also spent time working and living in Washington, D.C., and is the co-author, with the columnist, Joseph Alsop, of Alsop's book of memoirs I've Seen the Best of It. [10] [11]

Platt has always said that his quirky, eclectic background contributes to his style as a reviewer, which he describes in his memoir The Book of Eating [12] as "part cultural essay, part personal diary, part service journalist, and part travel and cultural commentary". [13] In the early Aughts Platt coined the term "Haute Barnyard" to describe the Farm to Table craze sweeping the gourmet restaurants of New York City. He has written extensively on the controversial practice of tipping, [14] and the demise of the old diner culture around New York. [15] [16]

Platt has said his "lumberjack size" makes it difficult to disguise himself in restaurants. [17] In January 2014 he became one of the first prominent restaurant critics in the US to do away with what he described as the pretentious "Kabuki dance" of fake disguises and anonymity, when New York magazine's former editor, Adam Moss, decided to feature him on the cover. [18] [19]

Prominent New York restaurateurs, including Mario Batali and Keith McNally, have taken issue with his reviews over the years, [20] [21] [22] and in 2013 he was kicked out of Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone's West Village restaurant, ZZ's Clam Bar. [23] [24]

Personal life

Platt is married to the architect Kate Platt. They live in New York City with their two daughters.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. ↑ "Adam Platt | Writer – Professional Eater – Bilious Gourmand". The Official Website of Adam Platt.
  2. ↑ "Longform Podcast #133: Adam Platt · Longform". Longform. 18 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Winners Announced For The 2009 James Beard Foundation Media Awards". D Magazine. 4 May 2009.
  4. ↑ Whitehead, Kate (April 18, 2015). "Interview: Nicholas Platt and his famous sons, The West Wing's Oliver and restaurant critic Adam, talk about food politics". South China Morning Post.
  5. ↑ Miller, Gregory E. (May 4, 2014). "Oliver Platt channeled his real-life critic brother for 'Chef'". New York Post.
  6. ↑ Rozen, Leah (September 11, 2010). "Cilantro, the Flavor of Memory (Published 2010)". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Reichl, Ruth; Irby, Samantha; Chee, Alexander; Platt, Adam; Crosley, Sloane; Buford, Bill; Machado, Carmen Maria (June 16, 2020). "Our Lives Happen in Restaurants". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "Adam Platt". The New Yorker.
  9. ↑ Platt, Adam. "That Mango Will Blow Your Damn Mind". Condé Nast Traveler.
  10. ↑ Roberts, Roxanne (March 18, 1992). "'The Best of' Joe Alsop". Washington Post.
  11. ↑ Platt, Adam; Alsop, Joseph W. "The Wasp Ascendancy". NyBooks.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  12. ↑ Platt, Adam (2019). The book of eating : adventures in professional gluttony (First HarperLuxe ed.). New York, NY. p. 384. ISBN   978-0062944887.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ↑ Garner, Dwight (December 9, 2019). "In New Memoirs, Food Writers Serve Up Stories About Their Beat (Published 2019)". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ "Why are Americans 'addicted' to tipping?". CBS News. November 24, 2014.
  15. ↑ Platt, Adam (28 June 2017). "Watching and Lamenting the Death of the New York Diner". Grub Street. New York Magazine.
  16. ↑ "Are Diners Dead? | The Leonard Lopate Show". WNYC. July 20, 2017.
  17. ↑ Davis, Shoshana. "Who is Adam Platt? NY Magazine's restaurant critic reveals face". CBS News. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Where to Eat 2014 – Adam Platt on Why He's Abandoning His Disguise". New York Magazine. December 28, 2013.
  19. ↑ Willett-Wei, Megan (December 30, 2013). "New York Magazine's Restaurant Critic Reveals His Face, And It's About Time". Business Insider.
  20. ↑ Venezia, Todd (May 15, 2010). "Keith McNally lashes out at food critic". New York Post.
  21. ↑ "Restaurateur Keith McNally Deals with Bad Review by Calling Critic Fat". Gawker. EaterNY. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  22. ↑ Cuozzo, Steve (May 19, 2010). "Whine and dine". New York Post.
  23. ↑ Tepper, Rachel (October 17, 2013). "Restaurant Allegedly Kicks Out Food Critic". HuffPost.
  24. ↑ Canavan, Hillary Dixler (October 17, 2013). "Critic Adam Platt Booted from ZZ's Clam Bar in NYC". Eater.
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