lsanderson | 12-Year-Old’s a Food Critic, and the Chef Loves It

David Fishman trying the offerings at the Salumeria Rosi, a restaurant on the Upper West Side. “Good variety,” he wrote.
By SUSAN DOMINUS
Published: November 16, 2008

Everyone’s a critic, and apparently it’s never too soon to start.

That’s why David Fishman, an Upper West Sider who turned 12 last month, decided to take himself out for dinner one night last week. His parents had called him at home to say they were running late, suggesting that he grab some takeout at the usual hummus place.

Hummus, again? David thought he could do better than that.

He had recently passed by the newly opened Salumeria Rosi, a few blocks from his home, and had been intrigued by the reflective black back wall, the cuts of dried pork hanging from the ceiling, the little jars of cured olives and artichokes adorning the walls. If it was O.K. with his mom (and it turned out it was), he wanted to try that instead. More