John Kessler is the restaurant critic for Chicago Magazine. He previously spent 18 years as a food writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He graduated from Williams College, lived in Japan for two years and then, to the dismay of his psychoanalyst father, attended L’Academie de Cuisine culinary school near Washington, D.C. He worked for several years as a restaurant cook and chef in Washington and Denver, where he got his start as a critic at the alternative newsweekly, Westword. His writing has received many awards, including a National Headliner Award and a James Beard award. His essays, columns and food features have been anthologized 11 times in “Best Food Writing.” His freelance work has appeared in Food & Wine, Bon Appétit and the Oxford American among many other publications. He served as chairman of the James Beard Foundation’s journalism awards committee.