Food critic ‘tells all’ at Marshalltown Public Library | News, Sports, Jobs

PHOTO TR BY DORIE TAMMEN – Author and former Des Moines Register food critic Wini Moranville discussed her latest book, “Love Is My Favorite Flavor: A Midwestern Dining Critic Tells All,” at the Marshalltown Public Library Saturday afternoon.

Friends of the Marshalltown Public Library sponsored an author visit and book signing with Iowa-born food critic and journalist Wini Moranville Saturday afternoon at the MPL.

Moranville shared excerpts from her new book, “Love is My Favorite Flavor: A Midwestern Dining Critic Tells All.” She peppered the book with interesting anecdotes from her years as a young waitress at various restaurants in Des Moines. Among them are Baker’s Cafeteria, a wonderful family-run restaurant similar to the Bishop’s Cafeterias some may remember; the Meadowlark Room at Younkers in the Merle Hay Mall; the highly regarded Tea Room at Younkers Department Store downtown; the Soup Kitchen, a hip 1970s vegetarian restaurant run by hippies in the Drake University neighborhood; and even a Country Kitchen.

A college degree and her love of cooking and writing led Moranville to work in publishing and journalism. She enjoyed overseas press trips that expanded her horizons beyond the Midwest, allowing her to experience the food, wine and restaurants of many other cultures.

Her work experiences as a waitress allowed her to learn a lot about work environments in general. More specifically, her experiences encouraged her to think about what made service and dining experiences good or bad, both for employees and diners.

It was a great path to her next career move. In 1997, Moranville was hired as a restaurant critic for the Des Moines Register, a position she held for 15 years.

Restaurant critics are often asked to share their best and worst moments. Moranville described her visit to Thai Flavors, a rather nondescript restaurant in a Des Moines strip mall. There, she discovered a wonderful family-run restaurant where she least expected it, and where the staff shared with her their love of their home country’s dishes. Her positive review of the restaurant in the Des Moines Register has attracted many new diners eager to discover what they’ve been missing. Moranville’s joy in telling the story was evident.

What wasn’t so much fun was having to write reviews of disappointing and lackluster dining experiences. While it was difficult to write negative reviews, Moranville felt a strong obligation to be honest with her readers. It was essential to maintain their trust. She usually dined at the restaurants she reviewed more than once. Sometimes a bad night for a restaurant is just a one-night problem. Oddly enough, sometimes even a negative review could increase a restaurant’s traffic.

If Moranville said a restaurant served mediocre food at low prices and in large quantities, readers would flock to those places as well. Moranville was trying to lead readers to new, more adventurous culinary experiences, and her joy when she succeeded was evident, but not everyone was looking for that.

Register readers sometimes responded to Moranville’s criticism with letters to the editor, also known as “Nastygrams” in newspaper circles. She enjoyed hearing what readers had to say, whether negative or positive.

But sometimes things can get really nasty. One disgruntled reader even threatened to kill a restaurant critic’s horse! Moranville was once advised by her editor to notify the police about a threatening letter she had received from a reader. The officer who read the letter was appalled, but told her she would probably never hear from them again. She didn’t, until 14 years later she received another letter in the same handwriting, containing a senseless personal insult.

The rise of social media and websites like Yelp has changed things in recent years. Moranville said online responses to negative reviews have become brutal, absurd and, of course, perennially present on the Internet. One wonders if that contributed to his decision to leave his job at the Register.

Fortunately, Moranville continues to share her joy by covering the Des Moines food scene through an online Substack newsletter, “Dining Well in Des Moines.” In addition to writing hundreds of articles for national food publications and websites over the years, she has also written two cookbooks: “Everyday French Cooking: Modern French Cuisine Made Simple” and “The Little Women Cookbook.” All three of Moranville’s books were available for purchase through the library’s program, and she was happy to sign them for buyers. The writer is thoroughly enjoying her beautifully written book, “Love is My Favorite Flavor,” and may be trying out some French staples at home in the coming weeks.

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