How food critics strike a balance when eating out

Everyone envies food critics and influencers who seem to be dining out all the time. Ever wonder how they keep to their health goals?

- Shilpi Madan

Good food brings happiness, but sometimes there can be too much happiness. Take food critics and influencers, who review restaurants and new menus and bring us their feedback. Does being a food writer who has to eat out constantly mean making compromises when it comes to a healthy diet? How do such people balance their job and health goals? Turns out, there are some tricks of the trade.

TASTING NOTES
Figure out the basic anthem of a food tasting, which is portion control. "I do 'tastings,' I pace myself to taste little bits and pieces. If you chomp up the very first course, you will not be able to fairly judge the last few courses. Look at wine tasters—they sniff and swirl and sip and then spit. And still end up doing a great job of tasting," says Mumbai-based food critic and author Rashmi Uday Singh.

You needn't down a cask to detect the vintage, a sip does it. After the pandemic, there has been an enhanced emphasis on wellness and mindful living, which has made most people conscious about their health, including those who eat out for a living. Flip through TV shows and food documentaries on Netflix and spot fit chefs and judges like Vikas Khanna, Gordon Ramsay, Ranveer Brar and Garima Arora. "The Chinese do not trust an overweight gourmet," points out Singh. "A gourmet is supposed to know his or her food, and therefore what to eat."