Foodie Gael Greene Out at New York After 40 Years

Iconic food critic Gael Greene has been let go from New York magazine after 40 years with the weekly.

Handpicked by the magazine’s founder, Clay Felker, in 1968, Greene, seen here from a 1971 meal, worked tirelessly to bring readers the best — and sometimes the worst — of the Big Apple’s food scene. She stood as the magazine’s weekly critic until 2000, when she asked to be replaced and become a contributing editor, but continued writing weekly columns and started her own online project, Insatiable Critic.

Greene’s last column, "The 40 Most Important Restaurant In 40 Years," ran last month in the magazine’s 40th anniversary issue.

During her time at the magazine, Greene always offered delicious angles to her stories, and offered readers inventive pieces, like "Nobody Knows the Truffles I’ve Seen" and "Everything You Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat to Ask." Of her surprise firing, Greene had this to say: "I describe it as cutting off your nose to spite your face." Ouch!

At least now Greene wil have more time to spend on her sustenance-centric charity, Citymeals-on-Wheels, which she founded 27 years ago and has used to help deliver more than 40 million meals to the city’s frail and needy. That sounds far more fulfilling than informing New York readers about culinary trends, although we’ll certainly miss Greene’s unique take!