I found Mr. Levi's piece a load of pretentious drivel. For years fine cooking has been the realm of self-indulgent prima donnas who spent more energy looking down upon the public at large rather than making an attempt to educate them. Food writing suffered from similar pretension and affectation. While I enjoy Shakepeare and the canon of English literature, why should a food column be chock full of the detritus from a graduate degree in English studies. If I want to work to decipher obscure references, I can pull out the collected works of TS Elliot.
While Mr. Levi's article focuses upon the respective vulgarities of Mr. Bourdain and Mr. Ramsay, he misses the basis of their appeal: their ability to convey their love of food and their enthusiam for making good food accessable to as broad an audience as possible. Mr. Bourdain is an exceptional writer who manages to write about his love for food and his deep respect for the cultures in which food evolves. For all of his swagger, I never seen him condescend to a cook or culture (no matter how abysmal the meal looks). As for Mr. Ramsay's priapism, no string of vulgarities can take away from his sensibilities and his dedication to food that is, "clean, unpretentious and made from fresh local ingredients." These sentiments do not seem to stray very far from those of Alice Waters--a writer and chef who is not known for her vulgarity.
Mr. Levi's white-glove approach to writing may serve its purpose and produce the most beautiful of prose. His critique of these other food writers, however, smacks more of pretention than substance. If these writers bring a broader audience to an appreciation for the beauty and diversity of food, may their respective bullocks be blessed.
