Patricia Sharpe stepped into the world of food journalism by accident. Struck by the provocative cover of a new magazine, she purchased a copy and bought a subscription for $10. Six months later, she began bombarding editors with her resume.

In the fall of 1974, Sharpe got her wish, snagging work as an editorial assistant at Texas Monthly . She proofread restaurant reviews and cultural event calendars for $650 a month.

“What I knew about food in 1975 could have been put in a demitasse spoon,” she once wrote, “but I did love to eat.”

Fifty years later, Sharpe retired from Texas Monthly as a food journalism master, a renowned restaurant critic with a James Beard Award for magazine writing (2006) and as an inductee in the Wine & Food Week Hall of Fame (2023).

Sharpe has traveled m

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