Besha Rodell, James Beard Award-winning food writer, editor and restaurant critic in conversation for Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds her Place at the Table. Moderated by Leslie Suter, Special Projects Director, Eater. Book signing and meet and greet to follow.

A witty and lively memoir from food write r and New York Times contributor Besha Rodell, one of the world’s last anonymous restaurant critics

When Besha Rodell moved from Australia to the United States with her mother at fourteen, she was a foreigner in a new land, missing her friends, her father, and the food she grew up eating. In the years that followed, Besha began waitressing and discovered the buzz of the restaurant world, immersing herself in the thrilling lifestyle and community while noting the industry’s shortcomings. As she built a family, Besha realized her dream, though only a handful of women before her had done it: to make a career as a restaurant critic.

From the bustling streets of Brooklyn to lush Atlanta to sunny Los Angeles to traveling and eating around the world, and finally, home to Australia, Besha Rodell takes us on a delicious, fascinating journey through her life and career, as well as exploring the history of criticism and dining and the cultural shifts that have turned us all into food obsessives. Hunger Like a Thirst shares exquisite stories of the joys and hardships of coming-of-age, the mouthwatering meals she ate along the way, and the dear friends she made in each restaurant, workplace, and home.

Besha Rodell is a James Beard Award-winning food writer, editor and restaurant critic who has been obsessed with eating out since she was a child. Born in Australia, in a bungalow on a farm her father dubbed “Narnia,” she moved to the United States as a teenager. She has been writing professionally for more than two decades, and her work has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, Food & Wine, Saveur, Bon Appetit, Travel & Leisure, PUNCH, Eater, Gravy, and many others. She was the restaurant critic at LA Weekly, and was a critic and columnist for The New York Times – she is still a regular contributor. In 2019 she was tapped by Food & Wine magazine to be their global critic, traveling the world solo to pick the world’s best restaurants for an annual list. She is currently the chief restaurant critic at The Age, Melbourne, Australia’s daily newspaper. Besha moved back to Australia in 2017, and lives in Melbourne with her husband Ryan, her parrot Chobi, and a rotating menagerie of foster cats.