City of Gold Review

We are once again honored to have guest blogger, Chef Buckingham offer her unique perspective on a movie review of a food-centric story. Enjoy.

A review by Chef Elizabeth Buckingham

Apologies in advance if you find it a bit too meta for a professional chef to review a documentary about a professional food critic who reviews chefs (and their restaurants) for a living. City of Gold, a documentary by Laura Gabbert, is the latest in a string of food-focused films, both fictional (Burnt) and non- (Noma) that continue to capitalize on the seemingly indestructible “chefs as rock stars” trend and overly precious food obsessions in general. City of Gold follows Jonathan Gold, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles-based critic and writer around the sprawling city as he searches out the best taco, pho or hagfish.

Above all else, the film is a love letter to the city of Los Angeles, that broad, traffic-choked heart of authentic American multiculturalism. So much of the film took place inside Mr. Gold’s green pick-up while stuck in impenetrable traffic that I frequently wondered how the man had time to do any actual eating. Not to worry, though; Mr. Gold is a rumpled walrus who clearly loves eating and finds time to do a lot of it. He admits that he visits each place he reviews multiple times; his record is seventeen separate visits.

Mr. Gold, too, loves his city, and the film conveys this, albeit it in a haphazard way. He first rose to prominence by championing less-fancy “ethnic” eateries, rather than the four-star white tablecloth eateries typically visited by his contemporaries. And this predilection for “authenticity” is where Mr. Gold’s love of both food and people shines most strongly: if a critic’s role is to bring art to the people, but if the restaurant they’re reviewing is one that the vast majority will never set foot in, then the attempt at democratization is lost. Gold brought attention to places anyone could go, not just those with an expense account. (See Pete Wells’ recent New York Times review of Per Se for an example of a restaurant most people will never visit.)

City of Gold is gentle to Mr. Gold, but the shots from the passenger side of the truck are not particularly flattering. Neither is his penchant for procrastination, which leaves some editors fuming. Mr. Gold has been questioned for choosing to forgo the food critic’s traditional anonymity, in favor of exalted reception at certain establishments. It’s also made clear how much influence he has had over particular chefs and restaurants; he essentially singlehandedly launched Roy Choi’s career and the subsequent food truck craze. By the same token, one must acknowledge that Mr. Gold (and other reviewers) have put other restaurants out of business with damning reviews.

This brings us neatly to the questioned role of critic in current times: in this age of Yelp, where a lovely elderly lady from North Dakota can make national headlines with her review of Olive Garden, do we really need professional food critics? Or professional critics of any sort? Now that we can all voice our unasked-for opinions with a few clicks, why bother to read Jonathan Gold, or Pete Wells, or our own much-missed Jason Sheehan?

The simple answer is this: food critics know more than you do, my dear average restaurant guest. Food critics are often criticized themselves for never having worked in restaurants, never sweated in the weeds through a crushing Saturday night service, never gotten triple-sat with an anniversary deuce, four VIPs and a family with ill-behaved toddlers. But food critics eat out more than anyone, and the good ones at least make an effort to write well and to do a little research before opening their mouths. In the film, Gold discusses the focus of a particular restaurant serving cuisine unique to China’s Chengdu region, and emphasizes how it’s essential that he learn more about that before completing his review. I’ve been cooking professionally for almost two decades and I know absolutely nothing about Chengdu cuisine – whether or not he has ever actually been in the kitchen trenches, Gold’s insistence on doing his homework is the mark of a true professional.

And this is where I would absolutely argue that professional criticism is still entirely necessary and relevant. Millions of anonymous Yelpers can and do make comments on wallpaper, the “extreme hotness of the hostess,” and the “AHHHHHMMAZING” chocolate cake, which might be relevant to some. Many of these Yelpers, unfortunately, want to review the newest, hottest places before anyone else does; they’re less interested in the food or the experience than in getting there first. Professional critics, however, hopefully wield carefully crafted prose to ultimately share whether or not a certain establishment provides value for the money spent. Like Mr. Gold’s firm belief that small hole-in-the-wall joints may be just as likely to produce incredible food as fancy places, I believe that we need professional critics and Yelpers alike.

I found that City of Gold was much like Mr. Gold himself: a bit messy and disheveled. From Mr. Gold’s early career as a “failed cellist” to his devotion to L.A.’s punk rock scene, the film tended to jump around quite a bit and lose itself in its own meandering train of thought, only to return to yet another shot of L.A.’s endless traffic. Despite these quibbles, City of Gold is a tender portrait of a man who loves his city, loves its food and loves its people, and who wants nothing more than to share those discoveries with others. City of Gold ultimately makes a strong argument for the voice of professional criticism is any art form.

 Chef Elizabeth Buckingham is a Colorado native; she earned her culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. A spontaneous scuba diving trip to the Bahamas following her graduation led to the next eight years of her career: she cooked aboard dive boats and later progressed to head chef aboard private yachts worldwide. Elizabeth teaches public and private cooking classes in the Denver area and offers corporate recipe development and trade-show services to her clients. She thinks everyone should know how to cook at least a little bit. Find her on Twitter @chefbuckingham.

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