Jonathan Gold

After I moved to LA from Boston a few years ago, Jonathan Gold's restaurant reviews in the LA Weekly became my guide to the city. He introduced me to all the different culinary enclaves around town and to the city's best chefs, and he did so in a way that made me want to experience and taste everything he wrote about. His democratic approach—giving casual places the same respect as high-end restaurants—is one of the things I admire about him the most. His contagious passion for eating is another. Gold takes food writing to a new, more engaged level. This time, LA has the upper hand on everyone, even New York. —Kevin Cox, Los Angeles, California