What Jonathan Gold Meant to Home Cooks (in Los Angeles and Beyond) — In Memoriam

The late Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold — who died this past weekend from pancreatic cancer at age 57 — had the ability to cause two types of stampedes.

The first one was nearly instantaneous, as readers of his reviews and listeners of Good Food (the radio show based out of public radio station KCRW-FM 89.9 in Santa Monica, California, where Gold offered recommendations for 20 years) flocked to his restaurant choice of the week.

The second stampede was slower, but in some ways even more significant: Over the past 25 years, Gold's constant championing of immigrant cuisine helped change the way Americans cooked at home.

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