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My colleague Jen Zoratti wrote an exceptional piece about longtime former Free Press restaurant critic Marion Warhaft, who passed away Feb. 28.
Like so many Winnipeggers, I followed Marion’s reviews closely. Even on the odd occasion when I didn’t totally agree with her assessment of an eatery, I appreciated the diligence and care she showed with each of her reviews.
(My sole, very minor gripe: on more than one occasion she’d default to mentioning an eatery’s “short, well-chosen wine list,” offering no details beyond that. But I’m a wine nerd, so I digress.)
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While I never crossed paths with Marion in real life (at least not knowingly — she did well to keep her identity a secret), I did dine with another elusive Winnipeg restaurant critic: my mom, who in the 1980s was the Phantom Gourmet, the Winnipeg Sun’s yin to Marion’s yang.
That my mom was the Phantom Gourmet isn’t a big, gasp-worthy reveal — I’ve mentioned it before here and here.
In this 2023 photo, Free Press drinks writer Ben Sigurdson and his mom, former Phantom Gourmet Gail Cabana-Coldwell, review a canned cocktail for a Mother’s Day column. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
My porous memory retains just two occasions where I tagged along with the Phantom. Once to La Vieille Gare (now Resto Gare), where I recall trying beef Wellington for the first time, and the other to the Old Spaghetti Factory, back when it was in the Exchange District next to what is now Peasant Cookery.
Oddly, both restaurants are associated with train cars and, frustratingly, I think this is about the 74th time I’ve mentioned the Old Spaghetti Factory in this newsletter. I swear they’re not a sponsor…
Somewhat relatedly, I’m now in my 20th year (!) of dishing on wine, beer and spirits for the Free Press in the weekly Uncorked column, and in that time the landscape of both food and drink reviews has changed drastically.
The rise of social media, influencer, blogger and vlogger commentary has had a huge impact on how, where and what we learn about local food and drink.
I use the word “commentary” here instead of “reviews” because let’s just say the editorial integrity of the above groups isn’t always above board in terms of whether content has been paid for or sponsored by the product/restaurant in question.
Anyway, there’s no longer a restaurant reviewer at either the Sun or Free Press. But while trying to keep up with the times (ugh, TikTok), this “traditional media” (read: dinosaur) drinks reviewer continues to do his best to stay true to the ethical principles of the Marion Warhafts and Phantom Gourmets of the world.
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