According to The Seattle Times, Ruth Reichl is “one of the nation’s most influential figures in the food world.” Reichl, Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet Magazine for ten years, was a restaurant critic for both The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, where she was also food editor. Reichl is the recipient of six prestigious James Beard Awards: two for magazine feature writing, two for restaurant criticism, one for journalism, and another for multimedia food journalism. She hosted the Eating Out Loud Food Network specials covering her culinary exploits in New York, San Francisco, and Miami. Reichl is the executive producer of Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie on PBS and Executive Producer and host of Gourmet’s Adventures with Ruth. She also served as a judge on Top Chef Masters. Reichl is the author of several bestselling memoirs, including Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, Garlic and Sapphires, For You Mom, Finally, and her latest bestseller, Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir. In March 2020, Reichl began documenting the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the restaurant and food industry. She teamed with filmmaker Laura Gabbert to tell an expansive history behind an ever-more consolidating food industry. The film transcends the health crisis, laying bare how America’s decades-old policy of producing cheap food at all costs hobbles purveyors who are striving to stay independent. Titled Food and Country, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2023.