by Ken Tsui | When I started writing Scout’s Never Heard Of It column, I was given one piece of advice to help me through the dense landscape of incredible food we have in Vancouver. It was just this: “read Jonathan Gold”, the legendary Los Angeles Times food critic.

Gold was the first food writer of the major dailies to seek out and celebrate the ethnic, family-run restaurants that too often go overlooked in the glitzy realm of modern restaurantdom. His career has been dedicated to democratizing restaurants, elevating the humble to the haute. With wit and candour, he transcends the traditional food review to traverse the deeper territory of cultural commentary and criticism.

City of Gold is a breezy documentary about Gold, and it’s screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival from October 5th to October 8th (tickets). In it, director Laura Gabbert pinballs around the sprawling metropolis with the portly, moustachioed Pulitzer Prize-winning writer to get a better understanding of his penchant for exploring the cultural pockets of the immigrant culture left untouched by most of his peers.

The result is a wonderfully fun and playful portrait of a writer who has eaten his way through every strip mall and street corner in Los Angeles to make sense of its diverse, cultural fabric, one review at a time.

AH, BUT HAVE YOU HEARD OF THESE?