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Two months ago, we embarked on a quest to find the talented food writers hidden in the city—those foodies who wax poetic to their friends and followers about the dessert that made them weak in the knees or the cocktail so good they had to have four. We were looking for the people who love to eat and love to write—and boy, there are a lot of you.
Nearly 300 aspiring reviewers applied to write for Time Out New York, but the four-star write-up of Brooklyn’s Black Tree by Lindsay Denninger, a 27-year-old social media manager and television writer, caught the eye of our judges, a panel of staff editors. We caught up with our new critic her about her interest in writing and love of eating.
Have you always been into food?
I’ve always been an eater. That’s really the only thing I like to do. I even remember reading books when I was younger and being fascinated by the food passages. That’s how I learned the language of food.
What appeals to you so much about eating?
One of the things I like most about food is that it’s part of everybody’s lives. It’s a great unifier.
Do you come from a foodie family?
We’re a big Italian family so all we talk about is food. We start planning what’s for lunch after dinner the night before. I’m from Long Island, so my family would come into the city once or twice a month and pick a new place to try. Now that I live in Astoria, I’ve had a lot of fun introducing them to places.
Had you ever written a review before?
This is my first foray into food writing, but I’ve always wanted to do it.
Your task as a finalist was to have a meal at an assigned restaurant, then turn around a review in 24 hours. How’d it go for you?
I was nervous about the whole experience, but I’ve always been good at writing quickly. This made me tap into a different part of my brain. The thing that was stressful about turning it around was that I’m not very good at being concise. The editing process took longer than the writing—I kept having to cut it down.
So after this experience, do you think this is something you’d want to do for a living?
Absolutely! Did I answer you too fast? It would be my dream job.