“One of the things I really love about restaurants is that in many ways, they are the ultimate democratic institutions, where you get to walk in the door, plunk down your money, and for however long that you're there, you can be anyone you want to be.”

American chef, food writer, and editor

Ruth Reichl is an American chef, food writer, and editor. For two decades, she worked as a food critic, mainly at the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. She has 112 quotes on the site. Reichl has also written cookbooks, memoirs, and a novel. Outside print, she served as co-producer of PBS's Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, culinary editor for the Modern Library, host of PBS's Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth, and editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. She has won six James Beard Foundation Awards.