Before he goes: Howie Seftel on dining, art of the review
Restaurant critic Howard Seftel is retiring at the end of April.
He is a thoughtful, unassuming man who wears navy or black T-shirts, jeans and Chuck Taylors pretty much every day. When people ask what he looks like, I say, “A middle-aged White man in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.” I never worry about giving too much away.
Seftel himself gives very little away.
As befits a man who does his work anonymously, Seftel is warm, but not terribly talkative unless the topic is where to eat and what to do in countries as diverse as France, Chile and Moroc-
A Toast to Howard Seftel
What: An evening of toasts, roasts and jokes from dining notables including Chris Bianco, Aaron May, Josh Hebert, Christopher Gross, Nobuo Fukuda, Silvana Salcido Esparza, Charleen Badman and Pavle Milic. When: 6-9 p.m. Sunday, April 26. Show starts at 7. Where: Herberger Theatre Stage West, 222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix. Tickets: $50; $42 for subscribers with a discount code they can retrieve when they log in at azcentral.com/insider. Includes champagne toast and light appetizers; cash bar available. Details: herbergertheater.org.
co. That said, Seftel is as circumspect about his own life as he is about the lives of the people he writes about, though publicists and dining insiders often call to unburden themselves with gossip.
We’re not letting him go quietly — or anonymously. On Sunday, April 26, join us in celebrating his career over a toast at the Herberger Theatre Stage West.
For now, we asked Seftel about the how and why of what he’s spent the past 23 years writing about in Phoenix. Look for more recaps of his career in coming weeks. Tables too crowded. No bread. Zucchini (it’s the laziest vegetable). Not mentioning price with specials. Unknowledgeable servers.
People who want everything customized. People who mistreat waitstaff. People who show up late for reservations. And anyone who even takes out — let alone tweets, texts or calls — on a smartphone. Really, do you need to know how the Japanese bond market is doing in the middle of dinner?
I love food. And not merely eating it, but the whole culture surrounding it, the anthropology and sociology of it. What we eat. Why we eat it. Different customs among regions and countries. I’m also fascinated by restaurant culture: You can learn a lot about a society from it. Hospitality is key. I once was in an African village where desperately poor villagers slaughtered a sheep in our honor. A Nobel Prize dinner couldn’t have been more gratifying.
And most of all, I love the challenge of writing. Looking at a blank computer screen, feeling the blood coagulating between my eyebrows as I try to come up with a decent lede; try to tell an entertaining story that’s fair, accurate and knowledgeable; and try to come up with a fresh way of describing my 10,000th piece of salmon — it’s work. The trick is to make the reader think it isn’t. political views, etc., which suits me fine, since I have no interest in broadcasting anything personal. Really, I’m appalled by the culture of celebrity.
It’s all about who I eat with, rather than where. One of the things I’ve got to watch out for when reviewing is to be able to separate my having a good time from the actual dinner. I can have a great time if I’m with interesting people, even if the meal is mediocre. Conversely, dull table mates can make any meal less exciting, even if the chef is doing marvelous things. Going to restaurants isn’t a fueling stop; it’s first and foremost a social experience, which I need to separate from the kitchen’s performance.
When people ask me what’s my favorite restaurant, I bring up Duke Ellington. Ellington wrote in a variety of genres including jazz, popular, classical, film scores. The story goes that someone asked him, “Duke, what’s your favorite kind of music?” Ellington thought for a while, and finally said, “Good music.” That’s how I feel about restaurants.
I never go to a restaurant thinking it’s going to be bad. I always look forward to an enjoyable experience. So I’m never truly stunned with pleasure, although I shiver with delight when something is off-thecharts fabulous, like my first meal at Binkley’s or Kai.
It’s like going on a date. Who anticipates an unpleasant experience? And my whole professional life has revolved around going on a perpetual series of three dates. Whatever my feelings, I have to move on.
A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.