Me, in Food & Wine magazine

Merrily pretending I belong amid the glamorous U.S. food scene 2

An interviewer once saw fit to lump Vladimir Nabokov with his illustrious contemporaries Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Beckett. Nabokov replied that the comparison made him feel like a "thief between two Christs." 

Well, I know myself (more or less), and I know I'm no Vladimir Nabokov. But his statement does describe how I felt when Food & Wine magazine invited me to attend a special 30th-anniversary dinner last year at the late Phillip Johnson's iconic "glass house," along with nine other "important innovators in the epicurean world."

The magazine's September 2008 issue briefly recounts the dinner. Here are the attendees -- I'm the awkwardly dressed guy white-knuckling the cocktail.

So how did I handle myself among the great and good of the U.S. food scene? Like any good thief-among-nine-Christs, I happily ate and imbibed all the delicious things put in front of me and pretended that I belonged.

Grist food editor Tom Philpott farms and cooks at Maverick Farms, a sustainable-agriculture nonprofit and small farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Follow my Twitter feed; contact me at tphilpott[at]grist[dot]org.

Advertisement
Advertisement
  1. Erik Hoffner's avatar

    Erik Hoffner Posted 10:40 am
    03 Sep 2008

    30 yearsNice, Tom. But boy, they're expecting a lot from you over the next 30 years. No pressure.
    Erik

    The Orion Grassroots Network: supporting grassroots groups working for conservation, justice, & more

  2. Colin Wright Posted 3:21 am
    04 Sep 2008

    Hope theGrist lear jet was on time for you!I wonder if you felt a bit like Chauncey (Peter Sellars) in the movie Being There?

Add a Comment

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

Hello, Visitor!    Why not register?

Advertisement