Hal Rubenstein

Except for portrait painting and crewelwork, there isn’t much in culture that Hal Rubenstein hasn’t taken on with relish. He has acted, sang, danced, taught high school English, and co-edited an encyclopedia on American film directors. He has written about film, investment photography, movie stars, street musicians and strippers (both sexes), edited speeches for speakers at the United Nations, waited on tables and been a line cook, run a catering business (he is a self-taught chef).

However, there are two careers Rubenstein respected reputation is based on. For two decades he has been one of the most knowledgeable and esteemed restaurant critics and consultants in the New York area, writing for such publications as the original Details, Interview and New York Magazine and has worked with such chefs and restaurateurs as Michael White, Fabio Trabocchi, Steve Hanson, and Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque.

Most of you will probably know Rubenstein as the Fashion Director of InStyle, currently the leading luxury fashion magazine in America. Having created its signature section, "The Look," which established the magazine as the authority on celebrity style, Rubenstein also helped define the confidence-building, down-to-earth tone that sets InStyle apart and has his hearing “Oh, I love your magazine!” an almost everyday occurrence.

On TV, Rubenstein has been on The Today Show, The View, E!, Oprah, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. He was a series judge on Lifetime's Blush: The Search for the Next Great Makeup Artist, and a fashion expert on the second season of Bravo's Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. Prior to joining InStyle, he was Men's Style Editor of the New York Times Magazine and wrote The Edge of Nightlife column for The New Yorker. He is the author of Paisley Goes With Nothing: A Men’s Guide to Style. (Doubleday) and is currently working on his next book Killer Dresses: 100 Looks You Can’t Forget to be published in 2011 by Harper Collins.

Rubenstein loves spice rubbed Porterhouse steaks, chocolate chip ice cream, Diet Orange Crush and David Nickle to distraction, not necessarily in that order.