Guess who's not coming to dinner
One of the unfortunate side effects of being a restaurant critic is that no one wants to cook for you, even though whatever my friends might fix for me will probably be better than 99 percent of the restaurant meals I get.
Brave Patti has invited us over for dinner tonight. (Even her son said to her, "Is she going to write it up? Ha ha.")
In fact, the worst thing about being a restaurant critic is that...
...on those rare occasions when I am having a meal in someone's home, if there are other guests invariably someone says, "Are you reviewing this meal? Ha ha."
The words just slip out of my mouth. "Gee, I've never heard that one before. Good one."
Or, "That should make our hostess feel more relaxed."
I remember not long after I first got this job my mother, probably the best home cook I've ever known, said that even she felt a little uncomfortable cooking for me. That was unnerving.
