“Jay Friedman is Seattle’s authoritative voice on Asian cuisine.” So says Ronald Holden, author of Forking Seattle and a most venerable fount of knowledge of Seattle dining, both historical and current. Jay has certainly come a long way since his “shrimp and lobster sauce” days growing up on Long Island.
A global explorer of things gourmet and, well, not-so-gourmet, he has a particular interest in Asian food—especially Chinese and most specifically Sichuan cuisine. Jay has traveled extensively throughout China and Asia in general, taking cooking classes and seeking out the best food to better inform his knowledge of Seattle’s Asian restaurant scene.
His expertise of food, Asian and otherwise, has made him a highly sought-after food and travel writer, featured nationally in publications like USA Today, Lucky Peach (RIP), Eater, and Serious Eats. Locally, he’s written hundreds of articles for Eater Seattle, Seattle Weekly, Edible Seattle, Ethnic Seattle, and more. He is also the co-editor/author of the Fearless Critic Seattle Restaurant Guide.
This Gastrolust website aggregates just some of Jay’s writing, conveniently divided into six sections:
- Asian food in Seattle
- Washington state food and travel
- U.S. food and travel
- Canada food and travel
- International food and travel
- Miscellaneous
While Jay is on writing hiatus during the pandemic, he’s busy in the kitchen perfecting his smashburgers, hand-cutting homemade Chinese noodles, and making ma po tofu and a multitude of other Sichuan (and Hunan, and other Chinese and Asian) dishes.