Jonathan Kauffman Shows His Face

Today via GrubStreet Jonathan Kauffman decides it is time to reveal his face to the world after all of those years as an anonymous food critic for SF Weekly and Seattle Weekly. On numerous occasions, Eater spoke with restaurant owners and chefs who had no idea what Kaffman looked like. Insiders have said that his militant secrecy was mostly self-imposed, so the reveal here is certainly one for the books. Of course, now that Kauffman is the San Francisco editor of Tasting Table it doesn't much matter if people know what he looks like, however he does have some parting words about anonymity.

"I know what it's like to work in the kitchen when there's a VIP in the room. It does change the experience and, it can change the quality of the food...I felt like it was even more important to keep a solid wall, socially, between me and restaurant people. By not interacting with restaurant folk on or off the job, I was able to focus on trying to write fair criticism without thinking about the impact of my words on relationships I had with chefs and restaurateurs."

Kauffman's replacement at SF Weekly has yet to be named, and it's anybody's guess if the other critics out there are listening to his very interesting thoughts here.

· Exclusive: This Is Jonathan Kauffman [GrubStreet]
· All Jonathan Kauffman Coverage [~ ESF ~]
[Photo: via GrubStreet]