All this week (July 23 through 27, 2007) the New York Times is inviting questions from readers to Pete Wells, the Dinning Editor. Click here to go to the NYT website and ask your question. Below is mine:
My basic question is who will replace R.W. "Johnny" Apple. The easy answer, of course, is that no one can. Mr. Apple ranged from Sydney to Oxford (MS and Eng.) to Walla Walla, going where the food was. His death last fall has left something of a gap in national (and international) food coverage. Perhaps not coincidentally, there appears to be a new voice on the food page. Joe Drape wrote about horse racing on the sports page up until June 15. After a month "off" his byline has now appeared twice in the food pages, both on articles about food (or least restaurants) in other parts of the country. What exactly is Mr. Drape's beat, and does it focus more on food (which Mr. Apple tended to do) or more on the business of food.
Follow Up: Here is the answer to my question from Mr. Wells.
You're right, I'm sorry to say. R.W. Apple Jr. truly was irreplaceable. He died the week before I started here, and I'll always regret missing my chance to work with him.
Joe Drape isn't trying to fill those big shoes but I'm happy he's here. He is pinch-hitting for Dining while Julia Moskin is on maternity leave. The summer is a quiet period on the horse beat, apart from the races in Saratoga, so Joe is working some new muscles as a food reporter. (And now I will stop using inappropriate sports metaphors.) He and I are looking together for stories about the culture of food and dining; the piece he wrote about Tao Las Vegas was, it's true, a bit of a business story, but I think he'll get a chance to explore some other ways into the subject we cover. I've never thought that one needed to be a "food writer" to write about food.