I’m a former English major and semi-devout reader, who still loves to discuss a good book with friends who share my interest in nerdy stuff like structure, symbol and characterization. I’m told that analyzing literature in this way is completely out of date, but I don’t care. To me, it’s fun — mental calisthenics without getting out of breath.

I think it was being an English major that led me to food writing, well, that and having a mother who was both a wonderful cook and an inveterate analyst of everything she and everybody else ever put in their mouths. We discussed the things we were eating or already had eaten all the time, analyzing what we liked about them and what we didn’t. But there was nothing unusual about any of this to us because we were southerners, and people in the south are obsessed with food.

In my 20s, when I was a bartender at Mabel Murphy’s (the original, owned by Bob Sikora back in the day), my cocktail waitress friend and I had a game we played as we stood across the bar from each other, me slinging what she’d ordered. We’d think up something we loved to eat and describe it in the most mouthwatering way possible. I know. Crazy. A roomful of men and we were fantasizing about food! Well, most of the time.

Still, I was by no means a food expert when I took the job as restaurant critic at the New Times in December of 1984. I remember so clearly sitting in Voltaire, a classic French restaurant still alive and well in Scottsdale, and asking the server what crème caramel was. After his explanation, I heard a diner at a neighboring table say, “Sophistication is hard won,” and I nearly slid under the table I was so mortified. My next thought was, “Please, God, don’t let this person figure out I’m actually getting paid to be a restaurant critic!” For my first six months at that job, I felt like a charlatan, but I ate and I ate and I learned by eating and reading and analyzing.

Well, I’m not mortified anymore, and although I know much more about food now than I did then, I’m also more comfortable admitting that there’s plenty I don’t know. I learn new things all the time, and to tell you the truth, it’s my favorite part of the job. There’s no end to the learning. My dream job would probably be traveling the world writing about food culture in different countries. Life couldn’t get any better than that!

Got a tip? Have a question? Email me:
tips@thewildlavender.com.

Media/Publishing Experience

2008-present: Restaurant critic, The Arizona Republic

2008-present: Writer, Arizona Highways

2009-present: Writer, Sedona Magazine

2008-present: Writer, Where Guestbook Arizona

1996-present: Local editor, Zagat Survey

1995-2008/1989-1992: Dining editor, Phoenix Magazine

1995-2009: Producer/restaurant critic, Good Morning Arizona, KTVK-TV

1998-2009: Editor/writer, azfamily.com

1998-present: Freelance writer, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit

1998-2006, 2008: Local editor, Gayot

2002-2006: Editor/writer/producer/talk show host, KFYI radio

1987-1992, 1996-1998: Talk show host, KTAR radio

1984-1988: Restaurant critic, New Times

Teaching Experience

ESL at Eiwa Junior College in Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan

ESL at Shintoku Kindergarten in Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan

English 101 & 102 at ASU, Tempe, Arizona

Education

BA, English, Arizona State University

MA, English, Arizona State University

Awards

Second Place, Food Writing, AZ Press Club, 2008; Second Place, Food Writing, AZ Press Club, 2007; Second Place, Food Writing, AZ Press Club, 2005; Third Place, Food Writing, AZ Press Club, 2004; First, Second & Third Place, Food Writing, AZ Press Club, 2000; First Place, Travel & Food Reviews, AZ Press Club, 1999; First Place, General Criticism, AZ Press Club, 1991; Second Place, General Criticism, AZ Press Club, 1989; Second Place, Restaurant Reviews, CRMA, 1996, 1998.