This is a heavy, heavy day in Los Angeles. While I was watching (on television) a hostage situation wrap up at a local Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake, I was scrolling through my Instagram, when I saw more horrible news. Jonathan Gold dies at 57. What?! That must be a joke? He’s been fine. However, apparently, he hasn’t been fine. In early July, Gold was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, damn, it must’ve been aggressive for him to be gone already. This is devastating for Los Angeles. Devastating for us at Hungry & Fit too, he was a hero in the food industry. He even inspired us to do our LA’s Must-Visit Restaurants quest.
Who was Jonathan Gold? He was a Pulitzer-prize, James Beard-award winning food critic, but that doesn’t even cover it. He drove a green pick-up truck and barely turned in his articles in on time. He used his art–and it was art–to shine light on small “ethnic” food joints and lift Los Angeles up to be respected across the food industry alongside New York and San Francisco. Jonathan Gold focused on being positive, unlike many food critics (or critics in general). As he became more and more popular, he knew that his voice was powerful, and he used it for good.
He brought many “ethnic” restaurants into the spotlight where they might have never been noticed such as Jitlada and Guelaguetza. He wrote about places other people wouldn’t go to or write about. Each year, he came out with Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants where he would list his favorite eateries in Los Angeles. His reviews changed their lives forever. He went into each restaurant casually, but he would make sure to meet the chef and really connect with these people who were behind all these restaurants. He wasn’t a fancy critic with a feather in his cap (though he was fond of hats)–he was a down-to-earth Angeleno who appreciated good food cooked by people who care.
Gold was passionate. You could read that easily in his writing. He loved food, he loved stories behind the food and chefs, he loved digging into every detail. He appreciated hard work and artistry in chefs and he displayed that in his restaurant critiques. His writing was like reading a romance novel–it was intimate, descriptive, and captivating. He was a brilliant writer. You were lucky if you could read until the end without drooling on your newspaper. He grabbed you by the collar and pulled you into his meal, letting you smell and taste the delectable nuances he himself was experiencing. He shares every detail with you, captures the atmosphere, the day, the tastes, the looks, the feel. Just read this quote from one of his reviews (covering Lukshon):
“The listan negra appears. It meshes surprisingly well with the spicy chicken pops, a labor-intensive reinterpretation of the buffalo wing glazed with sweet Indonesian soy sauce and Sichuan peppercorns. The evening feels like L.A.”
And speaking of LA, this man has done so much for this city. He clapped the Los Angeles diverse food scene onto a platter with beautiful writing and shoved it in the face of the food industry, forcing them to acknowledge Los Angeles as a food city. If you haven’t watched City of Gold, cancel your plans, and watch it tonight. It’s a perfect summary and example of who Jonathan Gold was: sharing delectable eateries you may never have given a chance. There is no air of pretentiousness.
He makes me feel proud to be an Angeleno and proud of all of the different ethnicities and heritages that make up this beautiful city. It’s easy to hate Los Angeles with its gridlocked traffic, heavy pollution, and subsection of selfish jerks, but Jonathan Gold shows the other side to Los Angeles. The real side in my opinion (though, unfortunately, bad traffic is a part of that). It’s not just glitzy glam Hollywood or ritzy Beverly Hills. It’s a city of diversity, of taco stands and Thai Towns, of mini-mall hole-in-the-walls that will change the way you see an entire ethnicity. He celebrates the quieter side of Los Angeles, the side that wasn’t shown much before he came to the scene. He gives a close-up view of the myriad of people who call this city home.
Gold, through his articles and movie, showed us that Los Angeles is love. It’s a large, warm, polluted hug of traffic, immigrants, and people working hard to produce something wonderful and inviting. He showed us that food is not just food. It’s a pathway to knowledge, understanding, empathy, and acceptance. That even though you don’t speak the same language, that person who doesn’t look like you can speak love to you through their food. Thank you, Jonathan Gold, for bringing us new experiences and widening our perspective. And as always, stay hungry and fit.
