About food and restaurants
In Garlic and Sapphires, restaurant critic Ruth Reichl asserts that while food is important, nobody goes to a great restaurant just to eat :
"People go for the experience of being in a great restaurant. Sometimes they get it; sometimes they don't. It all depends on who they are."
To avoid being recognised by the restaurants she was reviewing, she used various disguises. And comes away confirming that restaurants do indeed treat customers very differently, depending on impression and perception.
Garlic and Sapphires gives insight to what different ordinary folks experience in the world of fine dining.
Apparently, it is de rigueur that serious and responsible restaurant critics in New York city be incognito in their work.
It makes me wonder about the modus operandi of our food critics.
4 comments:
impressions always count! very unfortunately.
a lot of the times, i rather dine in coffee shops or hawker centres.
imagine paying top dollar and having to fight to get the treatment u deserve, to me it is just not worth it.
edpjunkie - i totally agree with you. what i did not know about NY style reviews is that they actually will tell about the bad treatment. i like that.
I was thinking about this recently too! the local food critics get their photo splashed on the page all the time. Can't help but have good reviews only right? After all, they're recognised.
Perhaps not much difference from sales journalism... hahah..
wildgoose - would be interesting to know right?
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