The New Yorker magazine has made some of its historic content available online, and they're currently featuring past food and restaurants articles. See link below to a 2002 article on Mario Batali, which was written near the beginning of his rise to Food Network-fueled fame. The interesting (and long) article includes a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a high end Manhattan restaurant - the author spent several months cooking in Batali's Babbo. Good read.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/08/19/the-secret-of-excess
