Soleil Ho

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soleil Ho is an American chef, food writer, podcaster, and restaurant critic. Formerly co-host of the podcast The Racist Sandwich,[1] she is now the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle.[2]

Life and career[]

Born into a Vietnamese-American family, Ho was raised in New York and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 2005.[3] According to Ho, she was embarrassed as a child by the "brothy, weirdly fishy" dishes that her family ate, at least in part because of how other children might react. Ho graduated from Grinnell College in 2009.[2]

As a chef, Ho has worked at restaurants in New Orleans , Minneapolis,[4] Portland, Oregon, and Puerto Vallarta, where her mother owned a restaurant.[2]

In 2019, she replaced Michael Bauer, who retired after 32 years as the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle.[4] Ho has joked that Bauer, her predecessor at the newspaper, held the job since she was "not even a fetus".[2]

Literary works[]

Ho is careful about the connotations of the words she selects. A specific example is that she does not use the term "kaffir lime" because kaffir is a racial slur in South Africa. More generally, she does not think that "ethnic" food is a legitimate concept. Ho says "The imprecision of the word—and the assumption that it doesn’t apply equally to people and cuisines associated with Europe or white America—gives me such a headache."[5] She considers terms like "sustainable," "responsibly grown" and "farm-to-table" to be marketing buzzwords that are too often abused.[6]

Ho mentions poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib, food critic Ruth Reichl and newspaper critic-at-large Wesley Morris as among her influences. She says that she wants to write about restaurants that "tell a story" which may focus on "race, gender, class or the culture of the Bay Area".[2]

She co-authored "Meal" with Blue Delliquanti. The book is described as a "graphic novel on culinary mentorship, queer romance, and eating insects".[4]

Concerned about her legacy in a high profile position, Ho commented, "What if I screw up and no one ever hires a queer woman of color for a role like this again?"[7]

References[]

  1. ^ Hung, Melissa (December 14, 2017). "'Racist Sandwich': This podcast wants you to think critically about race and food". NBC News.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Judkis, Maura (March 8, 2019). "Soleil Ho is a young, queer woman of color who wants to redefine food criticism". Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  3. ^ Barry, Dan (2005-06-25). "For This Class, 'Remember When' Mingles With 'Never Forget'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Carman, Tim (December 5, 2018). "San Francisco Chronicle hires writer and 'Racist Sandwich' podcast host Soleil Ho as its new restaurant critic". Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  5. ^ Oatman, Maddie (March 23, 2019). "Stop Calling It "Ethnic Food"—and More Tips on How to Talk About Eating". Mother Jones. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Barmann, Jay (February 28, 2019). "New Chronicle Critic Soleil Ho Drops a Doozy of a Review of Chez Panisse, Calls It 'Stale'". SFist. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Rainey, Clint (February 4, 2019). "Meet Soleil Ho, America's Newest Restaurant Critic". Grubstreet. Retrieved May 12, 2019.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""