College campuses are petri dishes of potential. Where else can you get the chance to take glassblowing as an engineering major, try your hand at a filmmaking course while you study psychology, or see someone like… oh, I don’t know, Priya Krishna talk on a Thursday night? She’ll be speaking at the UCSD on Thursday, November 6 as part of ArtPower’s cultural programming.
A quick CV if you’re unfamiliar: Krishna is a food reporter/video host and former restaurant critic for The New York Times. She’s been nominated for both a James Beard Award and by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She’s been a judge on the television show MasterChef, a contributing writer and video host at Bon Appétit, worked at the food magazine Lucky Peach, and is the author of Indian-ish and Priya’s Kitchen Adventures, A Cookbook for Kids.
And, like Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein and ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, she didn’t get her start in journalism school. Instead, she double majored in international relations and French at Dartmouth—because who actually knows what they want to be for the rest of their lives when they’re 18?
That’s why when she’s not hosting On the Job, her video series about labor in the food industry, or profiling the presumed next mayor of New York City, she’s passionate about sharing her knowledge with the next generation of reporters, journalists, and writers, whether or not that’s their current professional trajectory.
“I will always say yes to speaking at educational institutions,” says Krishna over our Zoom video interview. Media has shifted dramatically since she graduated from Dartmouth in 2013—TikTok didn’t debut until 2016—but she’s been in the middle of every radical transformation the industry has taken, including all the social media ups, downs, left turns, and the looming rise of A.I. Does the media landscape feel discouraging at times? Of course. But the secret to becoming a better writer isn’t really a secret (you just have to sit down and write). And at the very least, we have the ability to do one thing that A.I. can’t—tell real human stories.
“I think that becoming a really good, sharp, careful, thoughtful storyteller is something that artificial intelligence will never be able to replace,” she says. “Young people are uniquely good at thinking about something they read online, how to boil it down on social media, so I actually feel like this generation has a really unique skill, and if they can really hone their ability to tell stories, I think it’s a really exciting time.”
At the ArtPower event at UCSD, called An Evening with Priya Krishna, UC San Diego’s assistant vice chancellor for global initiatives, Tamara Cunningham, will join Krishna for an hour of conversation covering Krishna’s life and work, especially at The New York Times, followed by an audience Q&A session and book signing. She encourages all attendees, but especially students and aspiring writers, to come prepared to ask questions, especially candid ones.
“I want to be as transparent as I possibly can, because I think that there is not enough transparency around specifically what you have to do to break into this field,” she says. (She even has a resources page on her website to answer some of the most common questions she gets on a regular basis.) “[The event will] be really fun and hopefully engaging, but I hope it will, above all, be helpful for people.”
And in true food writer fashion, she has one other goal while she’s in San Diego.
Tickets for An Evening with Priya Krishna by ArtPower at UC San Diego are available now. General admission is $42, with youth tickets (ages 2-18) for $22. A limited number of free tickets for UCSD students are available via SSO.
Photo Credit: Kimberly Motos
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
The Crack Shack Hits Double Digits
Certain birthdays represent huge milestones—16 to drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink. But hitting double digits is when you reach the numerical pattern most people—and if they’re lucky, most businesses—will maintain for the rest of their time on Earth. As of November, The Crack Shack has reached that landmark.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of their flagship Little Italy location, all Crack Shack locations are offering month-long specials like a $10 birthday cocktail, a custom anniversary pint glass (buy the glass and get $5 beer refills all month long), and more. If you needed (another) excuse to load up on some crispy fried chicken and Mexican poutine fries, consider this your nudge.
Courtesy of Mingei International Museum
Beth’s Bites
Giving thanks is usually more top-of-mind for people around Thanksgiving, but this year it seems more important than ever to help wherever you can—especially as millions of people face more food insecurity. City Tacos is giving back with its November Taco of the Month, called “Big Papa,” a mammoth rolled taco stuffed with mashed potatoes and topped with lettuce, pico de gallo, crema fresca, and cotija cheese and comes with tomatillo salsa. Twenty percent of all Big Papa sales all month long go to Feeding San Diego, and it’s available at all seven City Tacos locations.
On Nov. 10, Cucina Urbana will host James Beard Award–winning chef Joshua McFadden (Founder of Submarine Hospitality; Ava Gene’s, Tusk) for a signing of his new cookbook, Six Seasons of Pasta. He’ll be putting together an à la carte menu of dishes from the book as well as Cucina favorites. On November 20, the Cucina team heads over to Artifact at the Mingei International Museum for the ARTIFACT at Night dinner series for a four-course meal highlighting Swiss cuisine.
Speaking of leaving room in your schedule for fun and festive activities, one of my favorite winter activities is coming up fast. Snowed In, Fort Oak’s annual Christmastime cocktail pop-up bar experience in Mission Hills, kicks off the holiday season mid-November and runs through December, but don’t be fooled by the weeks-long timeframe. There’s always a line and/or waiting list, so if you’re interested in checking it out (and you should), keep a sharp eye out for when reservations open.
Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
