Soleil Ho

Soleil Ho is an American chef, food writer, podcaster, and restaurant critic. Formerly co-host of the podcast The Racist Sandwich,[1] she is now the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle.[2]

Life and career

Born into a Vietnamese-American family, Ho was raised in New York and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 2005.[3] According to Ho, she was embarrassed as a child by the "brothy, weirdly fishy" dishes that her family ate, at least in part because of how other children might react. Ho graduated from Grinnell College in 2009.[2]

As a chef, Ho has worked at restaurants in New Orleans , Minneapolis,[4] Portland, Oregon, and Puerto Vallarta, where her mother owned a restaurant.[2]

In 2019, she replaced Michael Bauer, who retired after 32 years as the restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle.[4] Ho has joked that Bauer, her predecessor at the newspaper, held the job since she was "not even a fetus".[2]

Literary works

Ho is careful about the connotations of the words she selects. A specific example is that she does not use the term "kaffir lime" because kaffir is a racial slur in South Africa. More generally, she does not think that "ethnic" food is a legitimate concept. Ho says "The imprecision of the word—and the assumption that it doesn’t apply equally to people and cuisines associated with Europe or white America—gives me such a headache."[5] She considers terms like "sustainable," "responsibly grown" and "farm-to-table" to be marketing buzzwords that are too often abused.[6]

Ho mentions poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib, food critic Ruth Reichl and newspaper critic-at-large Wesley Morris as among her influences. She says that she wants to write about restaurants that "tell a story" which may focus on "race, gender, class or the culture of the Bay Area".[2]

She co-authored "Meal" with Blue Delliquanti. The book is described as a "graphic novel on culinary mentorship, queer romance, and eating insects".[4]

Concerned about her legacy in a high profile position, Ho commented, "What if I screw up and no one ever hires a queer woman of color for a role like this again?"[7]

References
  1. Hung, Melissa (December 14, 2017). "'Racist Sandwich': This podcast wants you to think critically about race and food". NBC News.
  2. Judkis, Maura (March 8, 2019). "Soleil Ho is a young, queer woman of color who wants to redefine food criticism". Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  3. Barry, Dan (2005-06-25). "For This Class, 'Remember When' Mingles With 'Never Forget'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  4. Carman, Tim (December 5, 2018). "San Francisco Chronicle hires writer and 'Racist Sandwich' podcast host Soleil Ho as its new restaurant critic". Washington Post. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  5. Oatman, Maddie (March 23, 2019). "Stop Calling It "Ethnic Food"—and More Tips on How to Talk About Eating". Mother Jones. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  6. Barmann, Jay (February 28, 2019). "New Chronicle Critic Soleil Ho Drops a Doozy of a Review of Chez Panisse, Calls It 'Stale'". SFist. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  7. Rainey, Clint (February 4, 2019). "Meet Soleil Ho, America's Newest Restaurant Critic". Grubstreet. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
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