Tejal Rao
{{Short description|Restaurant critic and recipe developer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}
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| name = Tejal Rao
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| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|29|2012|12|17}}
| birth_place = London, United Kingdom
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| education = Emerson College (BA){{Cite web|title=Astor Center - Wine and Food Experiences in New York City|url=https://www.astorcenternyc.com/instructor-.aspx?instructor=tejal-rao|access-date=2021-04-10|website=www.astorcenternyc.com}}
| alma_mater = Emerson College
| occupation = Restaurant critic, recipe developer
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| employer = The Village Voice, New York Times, Bloomberg L.P.
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Tejal Rao (born {{Birth based on age as of date|29|2012|12|17|noage=1}}){{cite news |last1=Le |first1=Vanna |last2=Carlyle |first2=Erin |title=30 Under 30 - Food & Wine |url=https://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/30-under-30/30-under-30_food.html |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=Forbes |date=17 December 2012 |language=en}} is a restaurant critic, recipe developer and writer based in Los Angeles.{{Cite web|date=2018-08-10|title=Tejal Rao Named First California Restaurant Critic|url=https://www.nytco.com/press/tejal-rao-named-first-california-restaurant-critic/|access-date=2021-04-06|website=The New York Times Company|language=en-US}} In 2018, she was named the first California restaurant critic for The New York Times. In 2021, she was named editor of the New York Times subscription cooking newsletter The Veggie.
Early life and education
Rao was born in London, but spent time in Kuwait, Sudan, and France during her youth before settling in Cobb County, Georgia as a teenager.{{Cite web|title=Tejal Rao|url=https://vilcek.org/prizes/prize-recipients/tejal-rao/|access-date=2021-04-06|website=Vilcek Foundation|language=en-US}} Rao's mother was born in Uganda and her father was raised in India.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}
Rao attended Emerson College, where she earned a BA in literature.
Career
In 2012, Rao joined The Village Voice as a food critic.{{Cite web|last=Morabito|first=Greg|date=2012-04-25|title=Tejal Rao IN as New Village Voice Critic|url=https://ny.eater.com/2012/4/25/6592799/tejal-rao-in-as-new-village-voice-critic|access-date=2021-04-06|website=Eater NY|language=en}} In 2013, Rao won the James Beard Foundation’s Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award for her work for The Village Voice.{{Cite web|title=Complete List of 2013 JBF Award Winners {{!}} James Beard Foundation|url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/complete-list-2013-jbf-award-winners|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.jamesbeard.org|language=en}}
In 2014, Rao joined Bloomberg as a food editor and restaurant critic.{{Cite web|title=Tejal Rao Named New Restaurant Critic at Bloomberg|url=https://www.grubstreet.com/2014/08/tejal-rao-bloomberg.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=Grub Street|date=August 11, 2014 |language=en-us}} In 2016, she won the James Beard Foundation’s Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award once again, this time for her work at Bloomberg.{{Cite web|title=The 2016 Beard Award Winners! {{!}} James Beard Foundation|url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2016-james-beard-award-winners|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.jamesbeard.org|language=en}} In the same year, Rao joined the New York Times as a food department staff writer and monthly columnist for its magazine.{{Cite web|title=Esteemed Critic Tejal Rao Joins the New York Times|url=https://www.grubstreet.com/2016/05/tejal-rao-times.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=Grub Street|date=May 23, 2016 |language=en-us}} In 2018, she was named the New York Times' first California restaurant critic, to better serve the growing number of New York Times readers in the state.
In 2021, Rao was named the New York Times writer for the vegetarian recipe newsletter The Veggie.{{Cite news |last=Bahr |first=Sarah |date=2021-08-19 |title=A Fresh Newsletter That's Not Just for Vegetarians |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/insider/veggie-newsletter-vegetarian-recipes.html |access-date=2022-07-28 |issn=0362-4331}} Although she is not a vegetarian, Rao enjoys cooking vegetarian food.{{Cite web|date=2022|title=Tejal-Rao Interview|url=https://moonbeamkitchen.com/Tejal-Rao-interview|website=Moonbeam Kitchen|language=en-GB|archive-date=June 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608184131/https://moonbeamkitchen.com/Tejal-Rao-interview|url-status=live}}
Rao has also contributed to a range of other publications, such as The Atlantic, Edible, and Gourmet, among others.
Personal life
In December 2020, she contracted COVID-19 and lost her sense of smell. She used smell therapy to regain it over the course of two months.{{Cite news |date=2021-03-07 |title=New York Times Restaurant Critic Tries To Regain Sense Of Smell After COVID-19 |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/03/07/974495231/new-york-times-restaurant-critic-tries-to-regain-sense-of-smell-after-covid-19}}{{Cite podcast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/podcasts/the-daily/coronavirus-smell-food.html? |title=A Food Critic Loses Her Sense of Smell |website=The Daily |publisher=The New York Times |host=Michael Barbaro |date=23 March 2021 |access-date=2023-08-07}} She lives in Los Angeles.{{cite news |last1=Blum |first1=Steven |title=Hey, the New York Times Wrote a Piece About L.A. That Doesn't Offend Our Sensibilities |url=https://lamag.com/food/new-york-times-tejal-rao |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=LAmag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles |date=February 13, 2019 |language=en}}
Awards and accolades
- 2012 – Forbes 30 under 30, Food & Wine{{Cite web|title=Forbes 30 Under 30 - Food & Wine|url=https://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/30-under-30/30-under-30_food.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.forbes.com}}
- 2013 – James Beard Foundation Awards, Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award for "Bangkok Pop, No F etishes,; The Sweet Taste of Success,; Enter the Comfort Zone at 606 R&D"
- 2016 – James Beard Foundation Awards, Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award for "A Health Food Restaurant So Cool It Will Have You Happily Eating Seeds"; "Revisiting Momofuku Ko, After the Revolution"; "Polo Bar Review: Ralph Lauren Corrals the Fashionable Herd"
- 2019 – Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Culinary Arts
References
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External links
- {{Official URL}}
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Category:American restaurant critics
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American women critics
Category:American women food writers
Category:Journalists from London
Category:American women writers of Indian descent
Category:British people of Indian descent
Category:British emigrants to the United States
Category:Emerson College alumni
Category:21st-century American women journalists
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:21st-century American women writers