Craig Claiborne

Craig Claiborne (1920 –2000) was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and cookbook author. He is most recognized as the food editor and restaurant critic for the New York Times. He served in the Navy during World War II and used his G.I. benefits to attend the Lausanne Hotel School in Lausanne, Switzerland. After school Claiborne moved back to New York and started his career as a food writer. He held a number of jobs within the food media space. He worked as columnist for Gourmet Magazine, was a food product publicist and in 1957 became the food editor of The New York Times. As editor, he shifted the food section’s focus away from cooking and homemaking, to new restaurants and trendy chefs. Through his wider coverage of New York’s restaurant scene, he exposed his readership to the more exotic flavors of Asian and Mexican cuisine. Claiborne implemented the 4-star restaurant rating system, which remains The New York Time’s restaurant evaluation standard. Claiborne was widely published, but a compilation of his recipes can be found in his book, The Best of Craig Claiborne: 1,000 Recipes from His New York Times Food Columns and Four of His Classic Cookbooks (1999).