Brief Thoughts and Questions About Reviews
Dec 3, 2008 general food, restaurants
One thing I’ve always found weird about the restaurant industry is that if you, as a restaurateur, go out of your way to send thanks for reviews, invite reviewers/media in, etc, it’s seen as a sleazy attempt to buy-off a review. In other industries, however, it’s simply good business.
While the reviewers do, certainly, have to refuse because they have to make their best attempt to get the dining experience of the common man, it simply doesn’t work well. Just look at NYC. Frank Bruni is the most powerful reviewer in the country, and everyone knows who he is.
So where should a reviewer toe the line? Can you contact a restaurant prior to opening via phone or email? Can you get non-menu items as long as the staff doesn’t know who you are? How does the dining public feel towards the anonymity of their reviewers in this digital age where anonymity is difficult to obtain?
Tags: critics, Frank Bruni, reviewers
From the mountains of Panama and Ethiopia, to the urban-jungles of Portland and Chicago, journalist Michaele Weissman takes us behind the scenes for a look at the world of third-wave specialty coffee. How did we get to Starbucks, and where we go from here?
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
The Association of Food Journalists’ guidelines make for some good readin’: http://afjonline.com/afj.aspx?pgID=887.
December 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I just want my reviewers to remain as anonymous as possible and, most importantly, not become buddies or even occasionally hang out with chefs and others in the restaurant industry. I think that’s a clear conflict of interest.
October 1st, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Crossbow Reviews…
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