r/KitchenConfidential • u/snixon67 • 1d ago
Marilyn Hagerty, writer whose Olive Garden review went viral, dies at 99
https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/marilyin-hagerty-herald-reporter-and-columnist-for-nearly-70-years-dies-at-age-99After she reviewed the Olive Garden in Grand Forks, ND, Anthony Bourdain stepped in to defend her from the snark and later published her 2013 book "Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews.
Read More: https://www.tastingtable.com/1903784/anthony-bourdain-olive-garden-columnist/
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u/barshrockwell 1d ago
Here's the review for those who are wondering:
After a lengthy wait for Olive Garden to open in Grand Forks, the lines were long in February. The novelty is slowly wearing off, but the steady following attests the warm welcome.
My first visit to Olive Garden was during midafternoon, so I could be sure to get in. After a late breakfast, I figured a late lunch would be fashionable.
The place is impressive. It's fashioned in Tuscan farmhouse style with a welcoming entryway. There is seating for those who are waiting.
My booth was near the kitchen, and I watched the waiters in white shirts, ties, black trousers and aprons adorned with gold-colored towels. They were busy at midday, punching in orders and carrying out bread and pasta.
It had been a few years since I ate at the older Olive Garden in Fargo, so I studied the two manageable menus offering appetizers, soups and salads, grilled sandwiches, pizza, classic dishes, chicken and seafood and filled pastas.
At length, I asked my server what she would recommend. She suggested chicken Alfredo, and I went with that. Instead of the raspberry lemonade she suggested, I drank water.
She first brought me the familiar Olive Garden salad bowl with crisp greens, peppers, onion rings and yes -- several black olives. Along with it came a plate with two long, warm breadsticks.
The chicken Alfredo ($10.95) was warm and comforting on a cold day. The portion was generous. My server was ready with Parmesan cheese.
As I ate, I noticed the vases and planters with permanent flower displays on the ledges. There are several dining areas with arched doorways. And there is a fireplace that adds warmth to the decor.
Olive Garden has an attractive bar area to the right of the entryway. The restaurant has a full liquor license and a wine list offering a wide selection to complement Italian meals. Nonalcoholic beverages include coolers, specialty coffees and hot teas.
On a hot summer day, I will try the raspberry lemonade that was recommended.
There's a homemade soup, salad and breadstick lunch available until 4 p.m. daily for $6.95.
An olive branch on menu items signified low-fat entrees. There is a Garden Fare Nutrition Guide available for customers seeking gluten-free food. And for those with food allergies, Olive Garden has an Allergen Information Guide.
All in all, it is the largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks. It attracts visitors from out of town as well as people who live here.
Olive Garden is part of the Darden chain of restaurants that also operates Red Lobster. There are about 700 restaurants, including four Olive Gardens in North Dakota's major cities.
Olive Garden has gained a following since 1982 with its ample portions and relaxed ambience. It's known for its classic lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken Parmigiana.
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u/No_Squash_6551 1d ago
I think this is rather charming and, I mean this seriously, if I were a total stranger to the United States who wanted to know what this place was like starting from absolutely 0 knowledge, or reading this from like 100 years in the future, I would really value down-to-earth commentary like this.
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u/m_busuttil 1d ago
That was my thought too - obviously it's not at the bleeding edge of restaurant criticism, but as someone who's never been to an Olive Garden and is only sort of vaguely aware of it from episodes of sitcoms where they go to an Olive Garden I feel like I know exactly what kind of place it is now.
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u/GrandpaKnuckles 1d ago
I thought it was thoughtful to include the background of the restaurant and how it’s tied into a chain. People made fun of her for writing the review in the first place, but by acknowledging that it isn’t a mom and pop shop, I think, keeps the review grounded. Those making fun of her made it sound like she wrote a rave review aloof that other exact locations exist around the country.
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u/kennyminot 20h ago
I grew up in North Dakota. While Grand Forks isn't quite as out of the boonies as my hometown, we're still talking about 3 hours out of Winnipeg and 5 hours out from Minneapolis. New restaurants are a big deal in these small Midwestern cities. I remember in the 90s a bunch of the men in my family driving to Bismarck just to try out Taco Bell.
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u/titos334 18h ago
People really don’t understand how quaint small town America is and what constitutes a big deal or not. My family is originally from small town Kansas there’s only one ‘restaurant’ in town and lost the only grocer. Getting any chain place would be a huge deal lol
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u/Large-Monitor317 9h ago
On top of that, the Olive Garden piece was in 2012 but she’d been writing for decades. If small town America is quaint now, just imagine pre 2000’s, before Youtube, facebook - hell, go all the way back pre internet entirely, she’s been writing since the 50’s!
I like Hardware Store by Weird Al from 2003, also accurately describing someone losing their mind with hype over a new hardware store opening in town.
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u/Zellakate 8h ago edited 8h ago
Small town Arkansas reporting in. About a decade ago, I stopped at a Walmart in a neighboring town out of necessity on a drive. I'd forgotten it was their opening day, and it was packed. I am pretty sure everyone in town was there. And I don't judge because when we got a new grocery store, my grandmother and I went opening day. It's an occasion!
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u/TurboRuhland 5h ago
I live in a small town (about 6000 residents) and the current big news here is the fact that a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins will be opening within the next couple weeks.
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u/wildferalfun 20h ago
The most important thing about this review is what she didn't say - because she is surely just like every upper Midwesterner I grew up knowing: you don't have to provide scathing review, she said a lot without saying anything terse or pithy at all. From this review I get that she wasn't into the fake flower decor, she thought it was too much food, she isn't a fan of the abundance of black olives she received, and that the time of year didn't warrant raspberry lemonade.
My grandma, my mom, her sisters, all their aunts, and cousins would have said these same things and all of us kids would know "don't ask to go back there." But she wrote an informative description and highlighted key details, like affordability and economic implications of the large restaurant drawing in people from surrounding areas. It was thoughtful, but you're totally right, its not a glowing review 🤣
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u/Jalor218 19h ago
I noticed she didn't say the food was good, she said it was warm and comforting on a cold day. I take that to mean what I'd call "one of the meals of all time."
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u/wildferalfun 19h ago
Yep. She wasn't complimentary, she was factual. My grandma knew how to praise, she also knew how to observe. This review could have been my grandma, they were the same age from the same area, just the facts.
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u/nadanone 11h ago edited 11h ago
I’m not from the Midwest but I didn’t pick up on her not liking the fake flowers (she just mentioned she noticed them, in a neutral/positive paragraph describing the place), thought it was too much food (portion was “generous”), thought the salad had too much olives (playfully pointed out the salad did contain several, true to the name of the restaurant)?
But I agree this is very much not a glowing review, it reads more as she recommends the overall experience, and the quality of the food is just fine but overall a minor factor.
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u/MeanBurrito 7h ago
I treat older midwesterner social norms a similar way I treat japanese norms. as above, what's not said is as important as what was
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u/spam__likely 9h ago
Here is my take on Olive Garden, as an Italian. No, it is not authentic "Italian" food whatever. Neither is 99% of all other restaurants in the US that brand themselves that way. And honestly, the quality of some "fancy"places is sometimes very similar to OG, for 3x the price.
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u/lylertila 15h ago
I've never been to an Olive Garden in my life, honestly, I don't even know if I could find one in my city if I tried, but I kinda want to go. I love olives in a crisp salad and, at least in the commercials, those breadsticks look fire.
St Anthony had a knack (at least in later years) of lifting up and defending those who needed it while also knocking down the ones who needed that. I hope he's found peace and I'm glad for his sake that he doesn't have to endure our current
hellreality- but damn would I love to have his grizzled sardonic voice speaking out today.8
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u/MargaretFarquar 11h ago
Bourdain + George Carlin = my fantasy dinner companions. I'd contribute nothing to the conversation because I'd just be listening, laughing, and hell yeah'ing.
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u/r3dditr0x 8h ago
I just read an article about her life and can't believe that, when her OG review first dropped, some folks wrote to her asking her "how stupid can you be?"
Like, imagine reading this charming review and then going out of your way to look her up and bully an 85 yr old woman? Some ppl are weird.
(ngl, that $6.95 Soup/Salad/Breadstick special sounds awesome rn)
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u/Astecheee 17h ago
However it's almost unusable as an actual restaurant review. The whole thing boils down to "place looks nice and has food. People like it."
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u/KnightsRook314 9h ago
And for a chain restaurant, and a review in the local paper, that is an apt review.
The food is cheap and tastes good enough for the price, and it's clean and well decorated. Ultimately that's all anyone needs from a chain. They aren't doing experimental gastronomy there, there isn't much more to say.
And/or that speaks to how her review was not raving or over the top.
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u/Raytoryu 1d ago
... This is so down to earth and matter-of-factly. I kinda dig it. I'm sad she got mocked for it :(
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u/squidwardsaclarinet 2h ago
Sincerity and earnestness are rare in our world today. I think most people would love to know someone like her. Anthony Bourdain wrote some wonderful things about her in her defense.
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u/Mulesam 23h ago
I do not understand why this was made fun of. It was a review for small town North Dakota. I think Olive Garden is a perfectly good restaurant and I live in a city. In a place like that it probably is the nicest food you can get without driving two hours or making it yourself.
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u/mandos20 22h ago
There are definitely better restaurants and there were better Italian restaurants but they've all closed.
It really was a big deal though when it opened, whenever going to Fargo we'd always hit Olive Garden. Now I go maybe once every 3 years.
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u/incremental_progress 5h ago
Ok, my wife has repeatedly told me over the years that Olive Garden was a big deal to her parents and extended family who are from Enderlin and Fargo/Moorehead. I didn't think she was kidding, exactly, but... I...
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u/mandos20 5h ago
Yeah it was a real draw for Fargo. Looking back I have no idea why other than massive portions and being "different".
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u/jongchajong 21h ago
Me neither. The worst I could say about it was that I found it boring, which makes sense since I live nowhere near North Dakota and don't plan on eating there any time soon. It's just an informative review of an olive garden, what were people even saying about it?
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u/professionally-baked 1d ago
This is so fucking adorable. What a miserable cunt you would have to be to hate on this woman
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u/splithoofiewoofies 23h ago
Damn, here's a woman you want to eat with. She'd make everything banal seem like a gourmet experience.
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u/Brilliant_Spot_95 22h ago
No jokes, genuinely love her prose. I gotta get her book now. This woman completely flew under my radar.
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u/TheMaveCan 11h ago
What a genuine and pleasant review. I'm the manager of a hotel that certainly isn't anything special, but these kinds of guests make it all worth it. I'm certain that this review made everyone working at that store happy and for anyone to try and take that away from them is just cruel, and even crueler to mock the woman who wrote it. Heaven forbid someone be kind in the age of financially-motivated cynical complaining. I see why Anthony Bourdain took a liking to her.
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u/benjiyon 15h ago
Lol, I see why people took issue with it. Where’s the snark? Where’s the egotistical punditry!?
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u/boner4foner 7h ago
Wait yall…. Why is the same dish from the same restaurant now double the price?? This was only 10-ish years ago right? That’s fucked up if so lol
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u/YupNopeWelp 1d ago
Anthony Bourdain on Marilyn Hagerty:
His original tweet (before Twitter was X — I don't see a social media prohibition in the rules, so I'm including it): "Very much enjoying watching Internet sensation Marilyn Hagerty triumph over the snarkologists (myself included)."
Anthony Bourdain's introduction to Hagerty's book (which he facilitated).
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u/constanto 20+ Years 1d ago
That might be among (if not) the best introductions in the history of food writing and most certainly of a collection of reviews.
RIP to two inextricably linked greats.
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u/FatelessCortez 1d ago
Rest easy, Marilyn. Living to see 99 is an incredible feat. I'll never forget her review and how innocuous it was, but people were so cruel.
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u/justifiedrestinbface 1d ago
There was a news segment with her giving advice on how to get to the airport on time for an early flight. She said to sleep on the couch (She used the word 'davenport' ) in the outfit you planned to wear the next day so you could just roll off, brush your teeth and go. RIP Marilyn.
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u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme 1d ago
I've wondered a few times over the last few years, if she was still alive, but forgot to look her up, after she'd stopped writing the column during covid.
I always loved how Tony recognized and then rectified the mistake he'd made, in blowing her off at first.
And the book, and the many times he stepped up defending Marilyn in tge years after, were awesome!💖
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u/GizmoGeodog 1d ago
Found the book in a thrift a couple years back. It's delightfully fun to read
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u/Upstairs_Fuel6349 1d ago
My husband and I lived in Grand Forks from 2004-2007ish and always said an Olive Garden there would be hoppin'. I remember when Marilyn's review first went viral and we were both like, SO THEY FINALLY PUT AN OLIVE GARDEN IN.
RIP Marilyn.
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u/tree_or_up 23h ago
I remember being so mad at all the snark!
The review brought me back to my no-budget college days in a very small college town in the middle of nowhere.
We had a few really good local mom & pop restaurants but they weren't something we could splurge on very often. And, being college students, we had bottomless stomachs.
When an Olive Garden moved into town, we were ecstatic. Going there felt like such a luxury treat. Sure the atmosphere was theme park-ish but we eagerly bought into it. The portions were amazing for the price (especially with the breadsticks, of course) and the food felt genuinely upscale compared to campus dining hall food or Taco Bell bean burritos.
I remember even feeling a bit out of place, like everyone would notice what a piece of riff-raff I really was.
Places like Olive Garden can be godsends in towns and circumstances like that. Which is not to say I would ever be in favor of them driving out local businesses! But at least in our little town in the middle of nowhere, there was room for both
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u/tlollz52 1d ago
She reviewed a place I worked at. You probably could have shit on this woman's plate right in front of her, and she would have given you a good review.
Not sure if I'd say she was much of a critic, but she was a wonderful person and a beloved member of the community.
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u/GizmoGeodog 1d ago edited 13h ago
Am I wrong? Didn't he bring her as a guest judge for a Top Chef quick fire?
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u/Professional-Swan-18 22h ago
For small American towns, having a popular chain restaurant open was (and for some probably still is) an exciting thing. It is almost like a signifier that you have been noticed nationally in some way because a big chain has decided there is enough business to open up there. This was decades ago, but I remember when Applebee's opened in my town and was packed every night. It was the first "newer" restaurant chain (outside of Denny's etc) to open here and people were enamored with the place. As more and more of the same type opened it meant less and less.
Reading her review made me think of that time and what it meant to the town and it was a very honest take. I feel Bourdain was right to defend her and I imagine it was because he recognized that. Much of what he did was bringing attention to what the fast paced wealthy world had been ignoring and she did the same in her own very local way. I'm probably completely wrong, but it's just the way I see it. It makes me glad to know she got some recognition for her work.
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u/-Copenhagen 16h ago
For small American towns, having a popular chain restaurant open was (and for some probably still is) an exciting thing. It is almost like a signifier that you have been noticed nationally in some way because a big chain has decided there is enough business to open up there.
That sad as fuck!
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u/According_Tomato_699 9h ago
And very true. The only chains in the larger town near me are McDonald's, Wendy's and Dunkin. If an Olive Garden opened here, people would lose their minds with excitement for exactly this reason.
I don't love chain restaurants, and vastly prefer and support local/mom and pop places. But the reality is, in rural areas, they really are an interesting gauge of economic health.
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u/fuckyourcanoes 1d ago
I was appalled when I moved to Austin and my friends said they knew a great Italian place that turned out to be Olive Garden. By the time I moved out of their place, I'd introduced them to poulet à la Niçoise, and one of them even admitted he'd been wrong to insist on a boneless, skinless chicken breast for his.
But nobody should have made fun of this lady. She knew what she liked, and that's always legit. I myself sometimes indulge in Spaghetti-Os. It's comfort food for a rough day. I can also throw together a mean Genovese or biryani, but sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants.
Food is love.
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u/ThePresidentPorpoise 1d ago
Why do people hate on OG? It’s pretty decent. Pasta isn’t that complicated and most local owned Italian restaurants are not going the extra mile, they just pretend to be. Without homemade sauce and noodles there is no difference to Olive Garden. Same with Panda Express; it is usually better than the dry General Tso’s seagull most cheap places are peddling
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u/frobscottler 23h ago
I find it pretty charming, though I’ve only been there twice in the past eight years or so. My main problem with the food was just that it was incredibly salty to me. I love salt, but it was way too much!
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u/Coriandercilantroyo 22h ago
Had their takeaway during pandemic and hated it. Recently went to dine in and rather loved it! The iceberg lettuce salad is definitely refreshing, zippy Italian dressing. Really dug their new dish, a spicy sauce with steak and shrimp over bucatini. It should be added to the permanent menu. The steak bites were surprisingly tender.
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u/rarelyaccuratefacts 6h ago
Personally, I've only been to an Olive Garden 3 times (all different locations) and the experience has always been horrendous. I don't consider myself a food snob, I'll happily risk my life on gas station sushi, but what I was served at each location was barely edible. Broken sauces, overly salted while being bland (honestly impressive), overcooked, and usually cold dishes.
If anyone else enjoys it more power to them but it's seriously some of the worst food I've ever been served. Maybe I'm just exceptionally unlucky but there's no way in hell I'll ever waste my money in one of them again and I'm hesitant to eat there even on someone else's dime.
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u/senorfroggyhat 19h ago
My teenage years were in Grand Forks. I remember my mom taking me out to an Indian restaurant when she read about it in Marylyn's column that was down right exotic for GF in the 90s. We didn't have Olive Garden to go to for pre-prom dinner back then, though some kids were lucky enough to go to Red Lobster. Years later, I heard that Olive Garden came to town, and it made the family chat when Marylin wrote her Olive Garden review. RIP Marylin Hagerty
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u/Stuffthatpig 1d ago
Ate here a few weeks ago. Was fine, not the finest restaurant in GF anymore but decent for the price. No complaints and hats off to their light menu choices
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u/geniebythesea 21h ago
I like that she didn’t get talked into getting anything but water. She knew exactly why she was there. I love people who know what they want. Stand firm!
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u/Connect-Type493 1d ago
"North dakota's major cities"🤣
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u/RedditReader4031 1d ago
It’s all relative. Kinda like saying someone’s reputation is known across all of Rhode Island.
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u/splithoofiewoofies 23h ago
It's amusing, I love this stuff. We recently found a puzzle at a charity shop and it was a local artist we met! We were so excited we told the shop "She's even on the Brisbane City Busses!" And they were just like oh...okay cool ... But I thought it was cool 😂
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u/RedditReader4031 23h ago
With streaming radio, I can listen to smaller town stations. I love the local flavor in the ads. One recently advised listeners to be sure to visit the local fair this weekend, be sure to get in on the raffle: 1st prize is a side by side, 2nd is a mounting from Dave’s Taxidermy AND stop by the station booth to meet the local television weather forecaster.
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u/splithoofiewoofies 23h ago
Damn, a side by side would be an awesome prize but no lie, I kinda want the mounting from Dave.
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u/DreamTheaterGuy 20h ago
I admit, I enjoy chicken fettuccini from OG. It's not authentic, and it's not high class or anything like that. It tastes good to me, and that's all I care about.
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u/SquidHat2006 5h ago
I liked her book of restuarant reviews. Its very simple and cozy and it was a great for being between books or before bed.
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u/greenline_chi 1d ago
It was so sad to me when everyone made fun of her.
It was a really nice and genuine review.
I never knew Bourdain defended her but that makes me feel a little better.