Jonathan Gold was born in Los Angeles, went to school in Los Angeles and served for many years as the chief food critic for the
Los Angeles Times. The reviews in COUNTER INTELLIGENCE appeared in Gold's food column for
L.A. Weekly. He also served as a New York restaurant critic for
Gourmet. In addition to his Pulitzer prize, which cited Gold's "zestful, wide-ranging restaurant reviews, expressing the delight of an erudite eater", Gold won nine James Beard Foundation awards for his writing, including the MFK Fisher Prize for distinguished writing and the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award. He was also the subject of the 2015 documentary "City of Gold". Gold died in Los Angeles in 2018.
