Biography

Jonathan Gold was born on July 28, 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for City of Gold (2015), Hype! (1996) and Documentary Now! (2015). He was married to Laurie Ochoa. He died on July 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his restaurant criticism at the LA Weekly. As of 2026, Gold is the only food critic to have received this award.

Buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA, in the Garden of Legends section. His epitaph reads, "Tacos Forever".

Gold wrote his celebrated "Counter Intelligence" food column from 1986 until his death. It alternately ran in the LA Weekly (1986-1990, 2001-2012) and the Los Angeles Times (1990-1996, 2012-2018), with a hiatus in the late 90s. He collected 200 of his reviews in the book "Counter Intelligence: Where to Eat in the Real Los Angeles" (2000).

In his last years Gold was chief food critic for the Los Angeles Times.