The $25 tickets were sold out to hear Ruth Reichl speak just three days after they were released for sale. The good news? Look for our coverage here and in our June print editions! Meanwhile, I was already looking forward to a talk by ‘culinary icon’ Ruth Reichl at the North Castle Public Library tomorrow. But then a friend I invited jogged my memory about Reichl’s rock star status in the culinary author category (and beyond!) by sending a pdf of her incredible review of Le Cirque in the New York Times. “The review was the longest one I’ve seen at the Times,” he said, “but what was so fantastic about it was that she split the review into two parts: before they recognized her and after they recognized her. It was brilliant.” — Grace Bennett