Howard Seftel

Longtime Valley restaurant critic & James Beard Award judge

Howard Seftel was a Valley restaurant critic from 1992 to 2015, the first eight years at Phoenix New Times, then 15 years at the Arizonas Republic. During that time, he dined out -- anonymously -- more than 5000 times, and served as a James Beard Award judge.

A native New Yorker, he worked abroad for five years, in West Africa and the Middle East, and later taught American history at the University of California, Berkeley and Antioch University.

These days, when he is not eating out, he's likely to be at a baseball game, playing the piano, reading history or hitting the road to visit far-away children and grandchildren.