Restaurant Critics and Food Columnists

If the development of a sophisticated gastronomic literature in France can be linked to the democratization of dining that resulted after the French Revolution, as the English sociologist Stephen Mennell has argued, then perhaps a similar development in the United States can be linked to the hiring of the French chef René Verdon to head the kitchens of the White House in 1961, during the administration of John F. Kennedy. Suddenly, an interest in good food took on national political importance. During the 1960s, serious cookbooks—such as Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck—gained cultural currency. Magazines and newspapers also began publishing food features and regular food columns in growing numbers.