Bret Thorn has spent more than three decades watching restaurants change. As senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, he has tracked trends across the country, from kitchen technology to menu design to the business models that keep groups alive. His beat now includes America’s Top 200 Restaurant Groups, a ranking that shows who controls the industry’s biggest kitchens.
Thorn has spent years reporting across continents, moving from Thailand into American journalism. His career began in the mid-1990s, when he worked for Manager magazine and Asia Times, writing about business, banking, finance, restaurant reviews, and food columns. He then turned to The New York Sun, where he wrote The Kitchen Dish column from 2005 to 2008, focusing on restaurant openings and chefs. That column later became his career moves in New York City. He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999, a position he has kept ever since. In 2016, he added Restaurant Hospitality to his work while still holding his job at NRN.
He specializes in restaurant food and beverage trends, French cuisine, and the cuisines of Asia, with a specific focus on Thailand, along with restaurant operations and service trends.
Early Years in Thailand
During his time living in Thailand, Thorn produced his earliest notable food journalism, spanning roughly five years. That period saw him pen articles on business, banking and finance for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He also wrote restaurant reviews and food columns while there.
“He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand.”
The Kitchen Dish Column
Thorn penned The Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun from 2005 through 2008. The piece dealt with restaurant openings and the career shifts of chefs working in New York City.
Education and Early Work
Thorn’s education began at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history, magna cum laude, and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University.
During his time in Beijing, he was employed by ABC News and reported on the demonstrations and the final suppression carried out in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Prior to his time with Nation’s Restaurant News, he served as a sub editor at Asia Times, a post he held from 1995 through 1997.
Culinary Training
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris is where Thorn received his culinary education. He pursued traditional French cooking there and earned a Cértificat Elémentaire.
Awards and Recognition
Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.
During his time as leader of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, he held the position of president in 2005.
In 2014, Thorn was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier.
Podcasting and Publishing
Menu Talk with Pat and Bret is a podcast that invites chefs, food and beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations for interviews. Thorn serves as the co-host of the show.
He serves as senior food & beverage editor, a position that involves watching for national trends in the restaurant industry and writing about them for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.
Career Timeline
| Period | Role |
|---|---|
| 1995–1997 | Sub editor, Asia Times |
| 1992–1997 | Senior editor and restaurant critic, Manager magazine |
| 1999–Present | Food & beverage editor, Nation’s Restaurant News |
| 2016–Present | Staff, Restaurant Hospitality |
| 2005–2008 | Columnist, The Kitchen Dish, The New York Sun |
The Legacy of His Work
Published in 2012, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, includes Thorn’s entries. The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015, also carries his contributions.
The category of comfort food is vast, and his work on it for the encyclopedia reflects that breadth. His entry covers the subject’s history, regional differences, and cultural importance, treating a topic that is complex indeed.
The companion to sugar and sweets reveals his technical knowledge through his history of plated desserts, and it is a discipline where dishes frequently rank among the most intricate on a menu.
The Road Ahead
Thorn’s current focus is on America’s Top 200 Restaurant Groups. His role at Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality puts him at the center of that change.
Thorn’s career has been defined by movement and adaptation. He has moved from Asia to New York to national journalism, always finding new ways to cover food. His current role at Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality allows him to apply that experience to the largest players in the industry.
The Bottom Line
American journalism’s food editing ranks include Bret Thorn, whose career has spanned decades and continents, and who has touched nearly every aspect of the industry.
This person has received a national journalism prize, joined a distinguished guild, and contributed entries to two Oxford companions. His reporting has ranged from street food in Thailand to the protests in Tiananmen Square.
His current work on America’s Top 200 Restaurant Groups continues that tradition. He is watching the industry, documenting its trends, and helping readers understand what is happening in the kitchens that matter most.
Source material: “America’s Top 200 Restaurant Groups,” Nation's Restaurant News.
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