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And Philly Mag’s Next Food Editor Is….

Posted by Tom McGrath on March 17th, 2011

Hi. Tom McGrath here, editor of Philly Mag. For a couple of months now — ever since the very smart, very funny, very talented Kirsten Henri announced she was stepping aside as the magazine’s food editor — we’ve been searching for someone to take over our food coverage both in the magazine and here at Foobooz. Someone who understands food; who’s as passionate about restaurants as you, our readers, are; and who might be able to give us a fresh perspective on Philadelphia’s ever-growing, ever-more-exciting food scene.

I’m happy to announce we’ve found our editor: he’s James Beard Award-winning journalist Jason Sheehan. Jason comes to us, most recently, from Seattle Weekly, and he brings with him a perfect blend of restaurant and writing experience. After spending a dozen-plus years as a chef, he jumped to the journalism side of the street a few years ago and proved himself to be a natural. In addition to the James Beard Award (which he won in 2005 while the food critic at the Denver newspaper Westword), Jason is the author of Cooking Dirty, a memoir of his years as a chef that Time magazine named one of the 10 best nonfiction books of 2009. I’m incredibly excited about Jason’s arrival, and as you can see from this email he sent me yesterday, he’s equally fired up:

“I’m already getting prepared for the new job — poring over maps of the area, plotting my routes to and from the office by the maximum number of hoagies, dumplings and chicken croquettes I can score along the way. At this point, I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to wait until the plane lands. I might just end up pulling a D.B. Cooper, popping a hatch in-flight while the plane circles low over Race Street and drifting down to earth with my mouth wide open.”

Jason will oversee all restaurant coverage in Philly Mag (where Trey Popp will continue to be our food critic) and here at Foobooz (where he’ll work side-by-side with Foobooz founder Art Etchells). Jason starts early next month.


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    This entry was posted on Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Food Nerd News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

    • http://www.HollyEats.com Holly Moore

      Welcome to Philadelphia.

      Alas, the editors of Philadelphia Magazine have mislead you as to an abundance of chicken croquettes.

    • http://www.meetup.com/diningout-332/ Andy Meehan

      Congrats and welcome!
      Don’t forget the suburbs – I run a dining out group for over 600 people in the Western burbs and we get hungry too! We also do dinners in the city so of course appreciate the information we get for those trips

    • http://phillymarketcafe.blogspot.com/ gil

      Jason,

      Please, bring the “can’t wait for the opportunity to start causing trouble in a new time zone.” attitude to your post in Philly. We need it.

      http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/allyoucaneat/2010516540_jason_sheehan_blowing_off_denv.html

    • brianbrews

      Jason – Welcome to Philly. Westword is a quality weekly – we look forward to your insights here .

    • trans

      Let me tell you what kind of “food writer” you are getting in one Jason Sheehan. This is a man has tried to parlay his limited time behind the line into a career of writing about food. He has taken the blueprint of one Anthony Bourdain and attempted to follow it to a T. This would not be so bad if Jason Sheehan had even half the palate or food knowledge of Mr. Bourdain. He does not. What Jason Sheehan does possess is the bravado and prose-heavy writing style which, to any educated reader, is meant to make up for Jason Sheehan’s lack of substance. Flowery descriptions of food alongside the occasional f-bomb and drug references does not make up for Jason Sheehan’s lack of knowledge and experience in foods and cultures not related to Denver, upstate NY, or drugs. Here are just a few examples that Jason Sheehan has written within the pages of The Seattle Weekly:

      1. Comparing steam from a bowl of rice to “miniature Hiroshimas” just 5 days after the deadly quake and tsunamis in Japan (not to mention the ongoing nuclear disaster yet to be determined).
      2. Stating that one need only look for a Chinese cook in the kitchen to determine if a Chinese restaurant is good or not.
      3. Singing the praises of fast food joint Chipotle without even searching for real mexican food in Seattle.
      4. Stating the Soup Dumpling specialist and world famous Taiwanese restaurant Din Tai Fung is from Thailand.
      5. Singing the praises of the quality of beef used at a local burger joint who uses CAFO beef.
      6. Not recognizing the cut of beef used in a steak frites dish.
      7. Failure to recognize pho for the street food that it so obviously is.
      8. Praising of an italian joint that serves food no better than your local olive garden.
      9. Comparing xiao long bao to jiao tzi because they are both dumplings (akin to comparing spaghetti to pho because they are both noodles.)

      The list can continue indefinitely, but the pattern that has emerged in Jason Sheehan’s 1 year in Seattle is clear. His bravado and drug references are merely meant to disguise his lack of food knowledge (also his need to mention IN EVERY ARTICLE that he used to cook on the line.) He will slam the places which are popular, and rave for the places which are not. An obvious attempt to provoke discussion and page views, but at the expense of having real educated discourse about food in the city.

      In this day of blogging and twitter, real print media needs to have standards which elevate the conversation. Seattle has only 3-4 publications which are wide reaching and come with a reputation of respect for those within their pages. To give space to one as ill-educated as Jason Sheehan is doing a disservice to the city and its citizens. Major cosmopolitan cities such as Philly and Seattle deserve food journalists who are able to educate the public as to what good food is and where to find it. Great examples of these are Jonathan Gold, Jonathan Kauffman, Ruth Reichl, Alan Richman, Robert Sietsema, Patricia Wells, and RW Apple Jr. Seattle has wasted over a year of growth to let Jason Sheehan pollute its discussions with his hot air. Philly deserves better.

    • Kathy Cunningham

      Kathy says, “Ouch” to the Trans posting re: the new Philly Mag Food Editor. OK Philly, hang in; we’re a
      tough crew and the bar is held very high!!!…..

      Welcome and good luck in this town!

    • Bugsy

      Trans, sounds like a good fit for Philly Mag, where no one serious will read what he writes anyway.

    • Wow

      Two things.

      @trans – relax, buddy. if he stinks, we will recognize it. We actually know our food here in Philly, and don’t need someone to hold our hand and direct us to places.

      @Philly Mag – bravo for not moderating the critical comments.

    • Bugsy

      If what Trans is saying is true, they could have just hired Brian Freedman.

    • Joe

      Read Sheehan’s bio…even he would not claim to be a chef but rather a line cook in a series of dives and greasy spoons.

      As to his food writing, be prepared for self-absorption and all too frequent use of F-bombs and other puerile utterances in a vain attempt to lick Bourdain’s boots.

      A relieved Seattle resident

    • Joe

      Jinx!! Trans,

      I should have read your post before writing mine as we are in total agreement. Sheehan is a phony, a blowhard, and a punk.

    • SeattleDee

      …can you tell? Jason DID stir things up and provoke comment.

    • http://www.greenbuildingindenver.blogspot.com kevininDenver

      Have you ever had a restaurant review make you cry? It happened a couple times in Denver, that’s how passionate his writing is. Enjoy it, even if he doesn’t always get the food part of it right.

    • Bill Bix

      Here is a review of his work from the la times

      “The problem is, he’s just not that interesting. And he’s not that great a cook. I had to keep reminding myself that for most of the book he’s really just a guy working in a diner. He affects a Keith Richards swagger, but culinarily he’s a drummer in a garage band.In the end, sickened by all of his wasted opportunities (and his blowhard approach to bragging about them) I just wanted the book to be over.”

      Don’t let him or anyone fool you he was never a chef. You will learn to loathe him and his writing in no time.

    • greg

      Wow, bitter much commenters? Trans, you’re just dead wrong.. and its clear from your detailed posting that you have an axe to grind..

      Sheehan is always a fun read, and often insightful and hilarious. Bad thing is, he’s editing it sounds like more than writing…

      Ah, Article Comments.. always the worst part of the internet.

    • Tucker 5280

      I am jealous, I live in Denver and it has been 2 years since Jason left the Mile High city for the west coast. I can still remember, anxiously awaiting the weekly reviews of our up and coming restaurants here in Cow Town Denver. Not only was Jason informative, and knowledgeable, he knew how to weave a great story into his excellent reviews. Because lets face it, whats a restaurant review without entertainment???
      Best Wishes Jason…. give those east coast food snobs a flying knee right in the FACE !!!

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