When I started writing about restaurants in a weekly column called the Eatbeat, I never dreamed it would catch the attention of Anthony Bourdain or that it would lead to dinner at Le Bernardin in New York City.
All I was thinking was that I write for the Herald—the daily newspaper in Grand Forks, North Dakota—and as features editor thirty-some years ago, I wanted to have a restaurant review. After all, I would dine with writers from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the New York Times when I attended annual meetings of the Association of Food Journalists. We traveled annually to major cities, to Hawaii, to China. They talked of their restaurant reviews.
My favorite pastime is eating. I know how to cook. Long ago, I memorized Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook and the Joy of Cooking. I have edited two cookbooks for my church.
Why not have a restaurant review in Grand Forks? I asked myself. But how could I do it?
We don’t have that many restaurants in our city. So I decided it would work if I went to every restaurant in town. That would mean places such as Taco John’s, McDonald’s, and the truck stops. To me, these places are interesting. And plenty of people eat in them.
To broaden my Eatbeat coverage, I visited neighboring towns. Dinner or lunch and a drive make a nice outing.
Thus began my routine of reviewing restaurants in the circulation area of the Grand Forks Herald. One review led to another. When I traveled in Portugal, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, London, and Brussels, I took the Eatbeat with me. Readers told me they enjoyed the travel and dining experiences vicariously. Twice, I have eaten in the White House; once with the American Society of News Editors and once with the Association of Food Journalists.
My goal with the Eatbeat is to tell readers of the Grand Forks Herald what is available in restaurants and how much it costs. How clean it is, and how the service is. And yes, the condition of the restroom, because it sends a message. Then when readers come in from around the area they know what to expect.
I write the Eatbeat as a reporter—not as a critic. This is not Los Angeles. It is not New York City. What point, I wonder, is there in tearing down some hardworking restaurant people? Sometimes I point out pluses and minuses. And if a place is just too bad, I move on. I don’t write about it.
Some people berate my Eatbeats. Many more tell me they read and enjoy them. Years ago when Herald publisher Mike Maidenberg told me he liked what I wrote, I felt I had the green light to keep going.
I go in unannounced, but by now plenty of people know who I am. That just makes it more fun. Since the Eatbeat was my idea and I like to eat anyway, I have always personally paid for my own food at restaurants I review. No expense account. I thank those in restaurants who occasionally offer to give me a free meal. And when I explain why I cannot accept, they understand and they appreciate my insistence on not being subsidized.
Over the years, restaurants have come and gone. This is a tough business. Here in Grand Forks, there are more chain restaurants now than the home-owned restaurants we used to know. Some longtime residents of Grand Forks may recall the Golden Hour, downtown, where they served heavenly halibut. It’s long gone, along with the Ryan Hotel, where they offered lemon pie with mile-high meringue. Gone, too, is Jacoby’s Hamburger Heaven, where I would rather go than to a fine dinner. And gone is the A&W Root Beer place where we ate with the kids in the backseat. Only the Kegs Drive-In with its sloppy joes remains from the olden days. The servers used to be on roller skates. People still are drawn back there when they come for high school reunions.