Counter Intelligence by Jonathan Gold

Counter Intelligence by Jonathan Gold

"Gold changed American food writing."--Time

The only food critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, Jonathan Gold pioneered a humanist's approach to reviewing restaurants: COUNTER INTELLIGENCE collects over 200 of his legendary reviews, which were as much about Los Angeles' neighborhoods and people as about what you were going to eat. He revealed the hidden kitchens where Los Angeles' immigrant communities fed their own, including the best of cuisine from Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Burma, Canton, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam and more. Not to mention the indigenous dishes of L.A. car culture: the perfectly-prepared hamburger and the quintessential hot dog.

Originally published in 2000, COUNTER INTELLIGENCE remains an entry point to the food of the country's most diverse culinary landscape; though some of the restaurants it lists have vanished as the twenty-first century has worn on (and its prices remain a point of nostalgia), "you could read it like a novel and be very satisfied (Ruth Reichl)".

Jonathan Gold (1960-2018), the first food critic to receive the Pulitzer Prize, reviewed restaurants for Los Angeles magazine, California magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Gourmet magazine. His book Counter Intelligence: Where to Dine in the Real Los Angeles compiles criticisms that first appeared in his long-running column for the Los Angeles Times. Gold was also the topic of the documentary City of Gold, which aired on PBS.