Feeding the public stomach: dining out in 1970s Sydney with restaurant critic Leo Schofield

One of the great cultural transformations in late twentieth century Australia (as in many other western societies) was the rise of the restaurant and the creation of middle-class tastes for ‘sophisticated’ wining and dining. In that process the restaurant reviewer performed a crucial role in promoting restaurant eating and educating diners. One of the earliest and most influential Australian critics was advertising executive Leo Schofield, reviewer from 1972 to 1977 for the Sunday Telegraph, and in the 1980s for the Sydney Morning Herald. Schofield’s reviews were often playful but he took his position as food connoisseur very seriously. Schofield had a dim view of Sydney’s restaurants and he saw his role as a pedagogical one; he was there to educate diners and to advocate for them, pushing restaurateurs and chefs to improve their standards. This article situates Schofield as a cultural intermediary, exploring the complex relationships between the critic, the diner and the restaurant industry. In particular it draws on a collection of letters written between 1974 and 1977 to Schofield from diners and restaurateurs, and Schofield’s responses. I argue that while Schofield exerted considerable authority in shaping opinions about Sydney’s expanding restaurant culture and played a key role in constructing collective taste, diners were not passive consumers of his reviews but played an active role in their production. This article has been peer-reviewed