William Grimes Speaks

NEWSWEEK: You are leaving the coolest job on the planet.
William Grimes: Well, yes and no. That’s the realistic answer. You’re dining at the best places in New York and somebody else is paying for it, and you don’t have to do what normal people do, which is look at the price side of the menu. You have to think about it for the benefit of the reader as an information point, but it’s never anything I need worry about. The downside is that you have to do that again and again and again. It’s like “Groundhog Day.” You wake up the next day having eaten a four-star meal, you must go out and eat another four-star meal. And you get up the next day and you have to go out and eat another four-star meal.

Grimes diplomatically says there have been many wonderful dining experiences, but does mention ones at L'Impero, Ilo, and Town in particular. According to the article, Grimes will not be working on a food-related beat, so Gothamist would like to suggest him for writing about animals in the city, as he demonstrated aptitude for it with his book about his city chicken, Chicken, in My Fine Feathered Friend.

Read William Grimes's Slate Diary from December 2001. Gothamist on William Grimes.