NY Times' Miller retires his restaurant column

Nation's Restaurant News, March 22, 1993 by Pamela Parseghian

NEW YORK -- Bryan Miller, the New York Times' influential restaurant reviewer, is giving up his weekly column effective June 1.

"When I started leaving tips for my mother, I realized that I was at this job for too long," said Miller, who has written the column since 1985.

"I thought it was time to move on," added the 41-year-old journalist.

Commenting on his future plans, he said that "I'm going to take some time off. I plan to get in some serious leisure time.

"I'm not running away from restaurant writing. I'm addicted," he said. "One thing that will slow me down is having to pay [for meals] myself."

Miller said that while he will not be writing the restaurant column after June 1, he does intend to remain on staff at The New York Times.

"I'll be doing some writing on food and other things," he said, adding that he plans to write more feature stories.

"I need a break from this column. I'm sort of cleaning the slate and trying to rejuvenate to do something else."

Miller is also giving up his sideline of playing guitar with The Pinballs, a Zydeco band, saying that the band "got to be more of a business than a hobby."

No replacement has been named at The New York Times so far, but the editors have started the search process. Miller gave notice the first week of March.

He confirmed that he is in good health.

"I'm not disgruntled at all. I want to leave while it's fun," Miller said. "I think too many people stay at jobs beyond their personal deadlines."