The Sterns continue to revise and update Roadfood; the latest edition came out in May. The Roadfood website, www.roadfood.com, begun in 2000, offers “tons more information” according to Michael. Anyone can share a new find, and/or write their own review on the website. There’s a forum for discussions and information about Roadfood eating tours. The website makes it possible to continually update the reviews. All restaurant guides are inevitably somewhat out-of-date as soon as published: a place might close, cooks quit, ownership change, etc. “If a bad review of a recommended spot is submitted, we check it out right away,” says Michael. In the same vein, the Sterns recommend always calling ahead to make sure of operating hours.
In addition to updating Roadfood and continuing to discover new/old American eateries, the Sterns have written more than two dozen other books. Most are food-centric, but others deal with American pop culture, such as the New York Times bestseller, Elvis World, and the Encyclopedia of Bad Taste. Jane’s autobiographical Ambulance Girl was made into a TV movie starring Kathy Bates. The Sterns also wrote a monthly column in Gourmet magazine for 17 years, and currently are contributors for both Saveur and Taste of Home magazines, which Michael says keeps them from “getting pigeon-holed in either high or low-end publications.” For the last 11 years, they’ve had a weekly segment on public radio’s The Splendid Table (broadcast every Sunday on WUIS at 3 p.m.). Their latest project, a Lexicon of Real American Food, will be released this September.
Throughout the years, whether in print, online, in the tours they conduct or on the radio, the Sterns have stayed true to their passion for and philosophy about regional American food. They write, “…Roadfood is based on the proposition that America’s truly great meals are sleeves-up fare, no reservations required. We have come to believe that this nation’s culinary gift is like our other contributions to world culture – jazz, blues, movies: a democratic experience enjoyed every bit as much by ordinary folks as by connoisseurs. At it’s best, Roadfood is edible folk art.”
Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].
