Adam Platt (born July 18, 1958) is an American writer and restaurant critic. He is currently the senior restaurant critic for ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'', a position he has held since July 2000, when he succeeded

Gael Greene Gael Greene (December 22, 1933 – November 1, 2022) was an American restaurant critic, author, and novelist. She became '' New York'' magazine's restaurant critic in fall 1968, at a time when most New Yorkers were unsophisticated about food and ...

. He won the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

Journalism Award for Restaurant Reviews in 2009, and has been nominated for the same award multiple times.

Early life and education

Platt was born in Washington DC, and is the son of

Nicholas Platt Nicholas Platt (born March 10, 1936) is an American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Pakistan, Philippines, Zambia, and as a high level diplomat in Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Japan. He is the former p ...

, the former president of the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

, in New York City, and a career diplomat for the

US Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

who served as U.S. ambassador to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He is the older brother of the actor

Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), ''Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), ''Executiv ...

, who has said he used his brother's real-life eating experience to inform his performance as the imperious restaurant critic Ramsey Michel in

Chef (2014 film) ''Chef'' is a 2014 American road comedy-drama film directed, written, co-produced by, and starring Jon Favreau as a chef who, after a public altercation with a food critic, loses his job at a popular Los Angeles restaurant and begins to operate ...

. Platt credits his rambling childhood -- the Platts lived for extended periods of time in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo — with shaping his wide-ranging and eclectic appetites. Platt is a graduate of the American School in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan, the

Georgetown University School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at both ...

, and the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

Journalism and restaurant criticism

Before becoming a full-time restaurant critic, Platt wrote and worked for many publications including ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', where he was a Talk of the Town staff writer, ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...

'' and ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', where he wrote monthly columns, and ''

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club memb ...

'' where he was a contributing editor for many years and travelled on assignment to the Southern Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

. He also spent time working and living in Washington DC, and is the co-author, with the columnist,

Joseph Alsop Joseph Wright Alsop V (October 10, 1910 – August 28, 1989) was an American journalist and syndicated newspaper columnist from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was an influential journalist and top insider in Washington from 1945 to the late 196 ...

, of Alsop's book of memoirs ''I've Seen the Best of It''. Platt has always said that his quirky, eclectic background contributes to his style as a reviewer, which he describes in his memoir ''The Book of Eating'' as “part cultural essay, part personal diary, part service journalist, and part travel and cultural commentary”. In the early Aughts Platt coined the term “Haute Barnyard” to describe the Farm to Table craze sweeping the gourmet restaurants of New York City. He has written extensively on the controversial practice of tipping, and the demise of the old diner culture around New York. Platt has said his “lumberjack size” makes it difficult to disguise himself in restaurants. In January 2014 he became one of the first prominent restaurant critics in the US to do away with what he described as the pretentious "Kabuki dance" of fake disguises and anonymity, when ''New York'' magazine's former editor,

Adam Moss Adam Moss is an American magazine and newspaper editor. From 2004 to 2019, he was the editor-in-chief of ''New York'' magazine. Under his editorship, ''New York'' was repeatedly recognized for excellence, notably winning Magazine of the Year in ...

, decided to feature him on the cover. Prominent New York restaurateurs, including

Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and Ne ...

and

Keith McNally Keith McNally (born 1951) is a British-born New York City restaurateur, the owner of several establishments including Parisian brasserie Balthazar, and formerly Nell's nightclub. Personal life McNally was born into a working-class family in ...

, have taken issue with his reviews over the years, and in 2013 he was kicked out of Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone's

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, 14th Street (Manhattan ...

restaurant,

ZZ's Clam Bar ZZ's Clam Bar is a seafood restaurant in New York City. The restaurant, run by Major Food Group, is on the same street as their restaurant Carbone. ZZ's Clam Bar received a Michelin star in 2014, and retained the rating until 2022. History Maj ...

Personal life

Platt is married to the architect Kate Platt. They live in New York City with their two daughters, Jane and Penelope.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Adam American journalists American restaurant critics Writers from New York City 1958 births Living people American writers