Save Me the Plums

Ruth Reichl (born 1948) is an American food writer, editor, and critic, and the author of Save Me the Plums, as well as four additional memoirs, two cookbooks, and two novels. She is the recipient of six James Beard Awards for her writing on food. She was born in 1948 and raised in New York City and Montreal, Canada, where she attended boarding school. She received a degree in sociology from the University of Michigan in 1968 and a Master’s in art history from the same university in 1960.

After finishing graduate school, she moved to Berkeley, California, where she turned her early interest in food into a thriving career. Her first cookbook, Mmmmm: A Festiary, was published in 1972, and from 1973 to 1977 she worked as a chef in a collectively-owned restaurant called Swallow’s Kitchen. In 1978, she became food editor of New West magazine. Her success at that magazine led her to the role of restaurant editor (1984-1993) and later food editor (1990-1993) at The Los Angeles Times. In 1993, she returned to New York City to become the chief restaurant critic for The New York Times. While at the Times, Reichl was known for her ruthless reviews, which often led to restaurant closures.