The Adventures of a 12-Year-Old Food Critic

The article that caught my eye in today's New York Times is "12-Year-Old's a Food Critic, And the Chef Loves It" on page A23. The combination of the headline and this picture of a young boy alone at a restaurant really peaked my interest.

This article is a feature article, part of Susan Dominus' "Big City" column, and it used an anecdotal/narrative lead. I really like the conversational tone used to tell the story. It kept it light and fast-paced, which made it a cute and enjoyable piece about a 12-year-old boy with a love for food.

The story was organized as a narrative, and it highlighted several main points. First, Dominus set the scene and explained why this little boy, David Fishman, was eating by himself at a restaurant (his parents were running late and suggested he get some takeout - he asked if it would be okay to go to Salumeria Rosi, a new restaurant he'd been eyeing). Then, she talked about the boy's personal interests in cooking, his experiences at the restaurant, and how he was treated there.

I really loved the cute little touches in this article. The author mentioned the boy's budget ($25), and even some of the notes he made in his little food critic journal ("Good variety" and "Softish jazz music. Seem to enjoy kids but not overly"). I think his notes in his journal are adorable. I'm impressed that this boy is comfortable enough with himself at 12-years-old to eat in a restaurant by himself. I don't think I would want to eat in a restaurant by myself now, and I'm 20!

The fact that the chef of the restaurant took the time to talk with this little boy is really cool, too. It was nice that the chef treated him almost as an equal, and not as a little child who can't handle himself. Clearly David Fishman is much more mature than the average 12-year-old boy.

I'm not sure that I necessarily learned anything from reading this article, but I really enjoyed reading about this little boy's experiences. It did make me wonder, though, about the age minimum for people to eat alone in a restaurant. I'm sure that it depends on the restaurant, but it was a little bit surprising to me that they let a 12-year-old in by himself. I wonder if they would have turned him away had he been 11, like another restaurant did when David tried to dine alone last year.