This culinary critic eats anything but secretly fantasizes about a brave new meatless world
Once upon a time, Mac van Dinther strolled into a career as a journalist and ended up with the most desirable job of all: food critic. Every week he goes out on the town for Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant, from traditional Chinese to a posh restaurant with stars, from a pop-up fusion restaurant to a timeless café. For the purposes of his review, Van Dinther will eat whatever is put in front of him; over the course of one evening in ‘boutique meat restaurant’ Bavette in Maasland he tasted a steak tartare, stew, ‘bitterballen’, meat stock, roast beef and two steaks, and enjoyed them all immensely.
But Van Dinther is also critical of the developments in the food industry in general, and meat consumption in particular. In an article about the 10 Commandments of Good Food, he fantasizes about the brave new meatless world and warns against turning the earth into one big cattle feeding machine. In 2013 he joined forces with the Vegetarian Society to find the best restaurant for vegetarians. He campaigns against ‘bloated’ cut-price chicken and eats organic as much as he can. Still, he is not completely against eating meat. He does, however, fight for reducing meat consumption and rebranding meat as a luxury item. As a food critic, how does he see lab-grown meat and its presentation in Bistro In Vitro?
