The more I read about food and what it means, the less inclined I am to try to write about it, in large part because so many others have done it so well already. In the last few days I’ve been struck by the fact that some of the most thoughtful writing seems to come from people who profess to know very little about food. Tuesday’s New York Times profile of Charlie Trotter reminded me of a ten-year-old article by Martha Bayne—as does more or less everything I see about Trotter, since reading this is the closest I’ve come to dining at his restaurant. Halfway through, feeling apprehensive about her decision to drop a good chunk of change on a fancy meal, Martha writes, “Did I mention that I am really not a food person?” That’s certainly no longer true—she later became the Reader‘s food editor for a time, and has since written plenty about food—but the piece is compelling in part because it’s the experience of just-a-regular-person without a lot of extra money deciding to splurge on a meal. The other reason is that over the course of close to 3,500 words, she reflects on celebrity chefs, cooking, attention to detail, and whether food should be fun—among other things—and it’s fascinating.