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"When Thomas Keller ran Rakel in Soho (opened in 1986), I had the opportunity to try his food and found it notable for having real purpose—unlike the era’s tendency to scatter blueberries over everything, his dishes showed purposeful flavors, deliberate choices, and strong technique, which led me to propose writing about him for the Times magazine because I wanted to cover him before anyone else did." - Bettina Makalintal