annecros
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Posts posted by annecros
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When my cat is doing something to which I object, I often spray him in the fact with water. You might give that a try instead of the wooden spoon treatment.
That's an idea. Have to think through all the reprecussions though. After all, I don't mind the behaviour when it happens under other conditions.
I wouldn't want to break him. Completely.
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It's not just a male thing. My fiance (female) also does this to me whilst I am cooking.
I keep reminding her that no one ever got laid for burning supper, but that never seems to have any effect.
ROFLMAO
I think it just may be an attention thing. As in, you are too focused on the wonderful dinner you are cooking for me - you must now pay attention to ME!
>Sexually Aggressive Behaviour Inserted Here<
Or maybe I am wrong. Don't know, would love to understand.
Funny though.
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Nah, he ducks and dodges, and after all I have a roux going and no time to aim. He is German and had an Oma that I am sure was much more effective with the wooden spoon than I'll ever be.
I just might get lucky one day though. Or maybe that's what he is thinking...
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Ha actually wrote the word terrific. Repeatedly. I found THAT entertaining. I wonder if his descriptions of menu items were as overwrought as his usual writing style is!
Nothing can ever touch the overuse of the word "beautiful" by every single person on the food network.
You jest. But it is not all that easy coming up with 1000 different ways to say tasty.
Oh, tell me about it. I have done more audits than can be counted that have the question:
"Was the food tasty?"
Roget's only has so many alternatives listed.
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If I walk into most any restaurant in Midtown Manhattan I see plenty of people with notes, notebooks, notebook computers, notetaking devices and the like right out on the tables. Even at the four-star places, you see plenty of this. Nobody cares, and restaurants don't give super-VIP treatment to everyone with a pen. What staff notice is suspicious behavior, like trying to take notes under the table or constantly going into the bathroom to dictate into your digital recorder. Hide in plain sight is the best strategy, in my experience, which includes both restaurant reviewing and mystery shopper/audit work. You definitely have to take notes when you're auditing -- the information required is too detailed to remember. There is, however, little call for notetaking when writing restaurant reviews. You're writing about impressions, not about the elapsed time between when you received your menu and when you were offered the opportunity to order. Most reviewers jot down a bunch of notes after they leave, get menus and have the opportunity to speak to the chef on the phone after they visit the restaurant, so if there are lapses in memory they can be cured. The two enterprises are quite different, both in approach and result. There's not a lot of personnel crossover between the two fields, though there is some.
Exactly. Hide in plain site. Works for me.
One trip to the bathroom is enough for me, and I am generally reminding the DVR in my bra that there was plenty of tp, soap, drying apparatus was available, but the toilets were dirty at floor level around the base. or some such when I am in there.
I am a pro, btw.
That's the sort of thing I do. And you don't have to mumble into your DVR when the server comes up to the table and inquires if you are ready for you order. Just check the time on the recording. These days, they all introduce themelves at the beginning of service, which the DVR captures. Too easy. Relax and enjoy yourself, and the stuff I notice is generally stuff I would notice anyway. Because I have worked in the industry.
I love technology.
Edit: Take notes at the table, if you are there for pleasure. You will be assured of getting your money's worth. Also, make sure you get a receipt. BIG tip off, and it would make my life much easier when I am working if more people insisted on receipts. Too easy.
Also, isn't the goal of both the reviewer and the auditor to capture the typical dining experience? How can you possibly do that without anonymity?
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jgm: new word for you: way + anal = waynal. This is the tem we use for my father in law who is fond of spreadsheets and scheduled fun. Embrace it for it is you.
Nope, I have no hang-ups about having to make 100% of the ingrediants. JAM?!? Fugetaboudit. I'll take the stuff from the pros. OK, granted it is likely the most expensive or organic type, but I'm still not making it myself.
I do let my husband in the kitchen. He's been cooking far longer than I have and is a mean griller but we sometimes do have conflict when I try to "help" him cook (I study cooking method, etc. he just cooks) but I don't get so defensive when he asks me questions about my cooking.
My downfall: I hate it when someone wants to hug me or whatever while I've got a knife in my hand or I'm in the middle of getting the final preps done (making the pan sauce, carving the meat, etc.) At Thanksgiving it was all I could do to not scream for everyone to leave me alone for the final frantic moments of prep. Oh, and puh-leez don't think you are getting a damn hug while I'm up to my elbows in the turkey's ass rubbing butter under the skin or stuffing the cavity
Oh, I am right there with you. My darling hubby, who I love and would walk the ends of the earth at his direction, somehow thinks it is cute to feel me up while I am in the middle of some critical point of putting the dinner together. I don't know if it turns him on watching me stir the roux and waiting to pounce with the broth when it is absolutely perfect, or what.
That is when he gets the wooden spoon treatment. Don't get frisky while I'm making the gravy please dear. That's for AFTER dinner.
He still does it, and giggles when I get mad. Oh well, I love him anyway, but boy is it infuriating. I guess he knows I am too distracted to stay mad for long, and he'll have time to make it up to me. And he always does. And then he does it AGAIN.
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Tried making some eclairs the other day (never done this before) and while the eclairs themselves came out just great, the filling was way too thin. I've never actually had an eclair before, so I didn't quite realize it until I tried eating one of the suckers, and the filling just dripped and drooled and drained out everywhere...
I whisked it plenty, so I suspect my problem is that I didn't heat the filling enough when I made it. This double-boiler I use just doesn't get hot enough -- I've given up on it when making hollandaise sauce, and am just using a regular pan instead. I'm thinking, this is what I need to do with the eclair filling as well.
An egg-based mixture needs heat to thicken up properly, right?
That and time, assuming you are doing a custard, and that's the best filling for eclairs in my opinion.
I know I have run out of patience waiting for the custard to thicken a time or two, even though the recipe was perfectly good. Custards stick and scorch under direct heat. Maybe you can use one of those metal thingys (can't remember what they are called at the moment) and direct heat? Are you using gas or electric?
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Critic anonymity is much discussed here on eGullet. Everyone concedes that the critics for major newspapers are going to be frequently recognized—perhaps not every time, but certainly much of the time. In his book Turning the Tables, eGullet's Fat Guy argues reasonably persuasively that there isn't a whole lot the restaurant can do to suddenly improve the place when a critic arrives. They can perhaps do a few things at the margins, and they'll certainly make sure not to assign their trainee waiter to his table, but basically the restaurant is what it is.How do you manage to protect your anonymity? It would be defeating the purpose, I would think, if you were recognized when you walked into the door.Careful readers of Mr. Bruni's articles will find plenty of examples where he clearly was not recognized. Usually it shows up in service glitches, which is why it's perhaps appropriate that he went undercover as a server—the one aspect of the restaurant experience where he is probably treated differently than everybody else. Where Bruni gets bad service, it's usually at restaurants that had no reason to expect a forthcoming review from the Times. Most of the "big name" restaurants will recognize him instantly. Certainly they will figure it out when the same guy shows up several times in a matter of weeks with large parties, and places huge orders for ridiculous amounts of food as if money is no object, and with him tasting from everybody else's plate. Bruni's photo is on the Internet, so it's not difficult to find out what he looks like.
I have to disagree. There is an awful lot that can be done. Just like the staff goes nuts when the notoriously big tipper walks into the door. I know I've done it. Even offered the kitchen a round if they took care of my customer. It is not the typical dining experience, and expecting it to be so is unrealistic.
MOO.
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I'm a secret shopper, I've been in the food business, retail and otherwise, I've been a writer for local rags, I've eaten in a lot of restaurants in my life(traveling artists, you know) AND I like to eat and cook a fair amount. So, MOO? I've eaten in restaurants with a food critic, the process of critiquing has very little in common with the job of shopping the place. And in my eyes that is the way it should be. Being a critic is a skill that is an art. It's mainly about the food, and the nuances thereof. Being a shopper is a skill that has nothing to do with art. It's completely about whatever the assignment states, and that is rarely the nuances of each dish. Unless you count the proper sides, temperature, speed of delivery and quality of service a nuance. I don't think the critic carries around a thermometer, although I've had to on some jobs. And, if I care to, I'll take my dressing on the side, thanks! The critic can have it 'with', as intended by the chef.
edited by me to add this: I'm a great secret shopper, but I wouldn't presume to be a critic.
Oh are you doing those? With the scale? I can't, as I have a conflict of interest, but there are a lot of them in the area. They seem like a real pain to me, though.
I've been criticized and I have been mystery shopped. To my mind, they are more alike than different.
I've never done a fine dining shop that didn't include the food quality.
If you are a great secret shopper, then you are objectively criticizing the business. No presumption necessary, it is a fact.
Thanks.
Anne
Edit: Come to think of it, I haven't even done a fast food shop that didn't require an evaluation of food quality.
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If you can afford to pay for meals for six people, it would seem wiser to have two people visit a restaurant three times to account for what might be different conditions on different days. or, at least, four people once and two on the second visit. Then if the chef had been hit by a truck one night and so was not in top form (as one restaurant claimed when I gave it a negative review), he would presumably be recovered for the next. Only exception for me would be if it were a Chinese or Indian restaurant where sampling many dishes at once is part of the format..even then, four once and two once would be a safer method. And by safer, I mean as a defense against law suits, never mind being fair to restaurant and reader. Law suits have not come into this discussion but when one is at a publication of considerable note, such suits are always imminent. You can't imagine how they back down when they hear that the critic was there three times.
And taking good notes as well, I assume Mimi.
I love to hear about multiple visits, and yes it is about fairness to the restaurant and reader. Most especially the reader. That is the customer here. Our customer is the owner or manager of the facility who wants to know what is going on from the customer's pov. That whole people do what you inspect not what you expect thing. We have a built in rotation limitation we have to work within, in order to get a varied pov and a fair evaluation.
Let's face it, and I don't want to seem as if I am always taking the side of the waitron unit, but some places just suck and are not worth the trip. I would want to know that it was a fair evaluation, but I would also want to know if I should not waste my time and effort.
Law suits, huh? I can see it. I've known a couple of restaurant owners who would rather sue than improve the property and build the business. In fact, I am required by one company to keep my notes on file for two years, in case an employee is dismissed based upon my, and other, evaluations, and in case I have to testify in court. So far, I have been lucky and never had an evaluation questioned. Never been ID'd to my knowledge either. Of course, if the staff were smart they would never let on if they did realize what I was up to, and just give me fabulous service. I have been known to "behave" like a mystery shopper when not on a shop. It works.
How do you manage to protect your anonymity? It would be defeating the purpose, I would think, if you were recognized when you walked into the door. I find it interesting to talk to a real live critic. I worked for a paper for a while, but as an "Advertorial" writer. heh. Bought and paid for by advertisers, that is.
Thanks.
Annie
Never took a note in all the years I reviewed fro the Times. Maybe went home and wrote a few thoughts, but never in the restaurant..a sure giveaway.
Actually, I use a digital voice recorder. Best $40 I ever spent, then upload the whole thing to a CD R/W when it is time to archive.
Yep, I wear a wire.
Edit: And I wait until I am in the ladies room to talk to my boobs.
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Funny. I had an experience last Thanksgiving that brought all this home to me. I was sick with a bad stomach ON THANKSGIVING DAY of all days. I had purchased everything needed and had a plan in mind, but could literally do nothing but lay on the couch.
Hubby, daughter and stepdaughter did everything at my direction from the couch of course, and followed all the parameters laid out. It was actually fun for them, and a huge relief for me. It brought the whole family unit together to, as they were all pitching in and taking care of me for a change. They felt good, I felt good, and everybody ate good.
I reflected upon it later, and realized that my mother had never, ever, ever let me help in the kitchen. I had to train myself later, relearn some basics I should have picked up as a teenager, and rack my brain trying to remember how mom or grandma did something. Good thing I was a counter monkey as a kid!
But, my stepdaughter was so excited that she can now make deviled eggs that are just as good as mine. Daughter found out how to make giblet gravy like HER mother and grandmother made it. And everyone had a good time. Hubby didn't get the dressing right, but oh well. Next time he might listen to me!
I guess the whole point is to share the knowledge you have with others. It was a good day, and a memorable holiday.
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If you can afford to pay for meals for six people, it would seem wiser to have two people visit a restaurant three times to account for what might be different conditions on different days. or, at least, four people once and two on the second visit. Then if the chef had been hit by a truck one night and so was not in top form (as one restaurant claimed when I gave it a negative review), he would presumably be recovered for the next. Only exception for me would be if it were a Chinese or Indian restaurant where sampling many dishes at once is part of the format..even then, four once and two once would be a safer method. And by safer, I mean as a defense against law suits, never mind being fair to restaurant and reader. Law suits have not come into this discussion but when one is at a publication of considerable note, such suits are always imminent. You can't imagine how they back down when they hear that the critic was there three times.
And taking good notes as well, I assume Mimi.
I love to hear about multiple visits, and yes it is about fairness to the restaurant and reader. Most especially the reader. That is the customer here. Our customer is the owner or manager of the facility who wants to know what is going on from the customer's pov. That whole people do what you inspect not what you expect thing. We have a built in rotation limitation we have to work within, in order to get a varied pov and a fair evaluation.
Let's face it, and I don't want to seem as if I am always taking the side of the waitron unit, but some places just suck and are not worth the trip. I would want to know that it was a fair evaluation, but I would also want to know if I should not waste my time and effort.
Law suits, huh? I can see it. I've known a couple of restaurant owners who would rather sue than improve the property and build the business. In fact, I am required by one company to keep my notes on file for two years, in case an employee is dismissed based upon my, and other, evaluations, and in case I have to testify in court. So far, I have been lucky and never had an evaluation questioned. Never been ID'd to my knowledge either. Of course, if the staff were smart they would never let on if they did realize what I was up to, and just give me fabulous service. I have been known to "behave" like a mystery shopper when not on a shop. It works.
How do you manage to protect your anonymity? It would be defeating the purpose, I would think, if you were recognized when you walked into the door. I find it interesting to talk to a real live critic. I worked for a paper for a while, but as an "Advertorial" writer. heh. Bought and paid for by advertisers, that is.
Thanks.
Annie
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Don't know what part of the country you are from, but even yankees are amazed and appreciative of this recipe for sausage cheese grits casserole:
http://www.marthawhite.com/recipes/recipeD...?recipeid=17444
Get up a little early, pop it in the oven, and let it go. I can't keep people out of it. Call it a polenta casserole if you like, and even use cooked polenta if you must be honest. No matter.
Annecros, grits are very trendy (in NYC right now, at any rate) so no need to pass as polenta. This casserole sounds great.
Good info to have and thanks for the update. Will inform my brother next time I see him. It is really an old recipe. An oldie but a goodie, as they say.
I love it!
edit: I have a very impressive collection of Martha White cookbooks. Some older than I am. They are my go to when I want something good, wholesome and homey. I also use the rolled dumpling recipe from a MW cookbook, and a fantastic sour cream pound cake recipe from these books. Sort of like a countrified King Arthur. Pillsbury bought them out about a decade ago, in order to compete in the Southern niche market. I am not sure what has happened with the company since Pillsbury sold out to General Foods, but I do know that Pillsbury kept most of it's shelf stable product line.
"MMM, MMM It's Good!"
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Don't know what part of the country you are from, but even yankees are amazed and appreciative of this recipe for sausage cheese grits casserole:
http://www.marthawhite.com/recipes/recipeD...?recipeid=17444
Get up a little early, pop it in the oven, and let it go. I can't keep people out of it. Call it a polenta casserole if you like, and even use cooked polenta if you must be honest. No matter.
Modifications? I add about an eighth of a teaspoon of dried mustard, and do so on a regular basis. Something about dried mustard and cheddar does an amazing thing. Ham or bacon could be substituded for the sausage, if you like. Some diced green pepper, onion and mushroom have all been used in my household to keep things interesting. Heck, you could even toss a handfull of spinach in there if you are feeling frisky, or maybe garlic. Garlic/cheddar/onion make a very good seasoning mix, to my taste.
Other than that, I would think a quiche. Deep dish, in a springform, tall and full of lovely things. You have to mess around with the pastry though, and it would be a bit trickier than the dump and bake casserole. All depends upon your taste, and what y
ou like.Good luck.
OK, I just printed this one off. Along with your modifications. That would be a great SuperBowl day breakfast while we are running around getting everything else ready. Thank you!
No problem. It does make a great breakfast for a crowd.
Put on a pot of coffee, and have fun. Say hi to the guy for me, and bon apetit.
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Hands on experience is very important. I have a degree in art history. I do not have any artistic talent whatsoever (unless my beautiful pastry and quilts count), but I did take a few studio art classes. Why? Because I felt that I could not adequately write about paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, etc without knowing how to do them myself. This does not mean that I had to do it well (and I didn't), but that I needed to be familiar with the actual mechanics and process.[...]
I salute you, but it's not just the mechanics, it's also about how to make space read, which even many studio majors aren't taught nowadays. By rough analogy, it would be great if every food critic knew how to construct a creative dish -- or at least how to analyze its composition expertly -- not just in terms of technique, but how and why the sum is (or is not) greater than the parts. But it's also true that there are many ways to gain knowledge. For example, although I've never painted a canvas, I learned a great deal from listening to and observing my father, who is a painter. I could see how someone could learn a lot about food just by having parents who owned a restaurant or by hanging out with people in the restaurant industry, without any formal training.
E.B. White was a great writer. He also co-wrote Strunk and White's "Elements of Style", which is the style book used at newspapers, businesses, and anybody else who wants to get it right.
Experience.
This is one of my favorite quotes on the subject:
"Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer. Intended for use in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature, it gives in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated."
Both, and most notably White, broke the rules.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Charlotte's Web" and my children did after me. My daughter adored "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" that broke quite a few rules.
One must first know the rules to break them.
I think that is a good philosophy, that transfers to many facets of life.
MOO.
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Hands on experience is very important. I have a degree in art history. I do not have any artistic talent whatsoever (unless my beautiful pastry and quilts count), but I did take a few studio art classes. Why? Because I felt that I could not adequately write about paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, etc without knowing how to do them myself. This does not mean that I had to do it well (and I didn't), but that I needed to be familiar with the actual mechanics and process.[...]
I salute you, but it's not just the mechanics, it's also about how to make space read, which even many studio majors aren't taught nowadays. By rough analogy, it would be great if every food critic knew how to construct a creative dish -- or at least how to analyze its composition expertly -- not just in terms of technique, but how and why the sum is (or is not) greater than the parts. But it's also true that there are many ways to gain knowledge. For example, although I've never painted a canvas, I learned a great deal from listening to and observing my father, who is a painter. I could see how someone could learn a lot about food just by having parents who owned a restaurant or by hanging out with people in the restaurant industry, without any formal training.
It has been my experience, that anyone whose parents owned a restaurant got training, formal or not.
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Nope, cooking does not kill the prions. Wash the exterior. At least, that is what I have always been taught. Grind your own meat. It tastes and cooks up much better.
I am still a bit skeptical concerning the finding in muscle tissue. Trying to figure out how the little buggers that only live in brain or spinal fluid managed to survive in a muscle. Seems to defy science.
MOO
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anne
it is not really of any import who is to "blame."
a restaurant review by a critic comments on the quality of service and really does not need to assess blame.
That is for the restaurant to do.
however-someone who is writing a piece about restaurant service needs to have knowledge or an understanding of how restaurant service works (or doesn't)
there is a distinction here.
Isn't a restaurant review, criticism, whatever you call it, generally laying "blame" regardless of the positive or negative results?
Having worked in one, yes, it does lay blame upon the establishment for either being a failure or a success.
Laying blame is the whole point of criticism. After all, while a painter only has himself to blame, the director has writers, cinematographers, actors, all have a responsibility concerning the final product.
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A lot of this comes down to: do you consider yourself an arts critic or a consumer reporter?
Currently, restaurant reviews in most newspapers serve primarily a consumer reporting function. For that, it's not particularly necessary or even helpful to acquire behind-the-scenes knowledge. The consumer, indeed, doesn't and shouldn't give a crap why the steak is overcooked -- it matters only that it is overcooked, something that can be judged with accuracy from the vantage point of the average customer.
The arts critic is, understandably, a lot more interested in the nuances of the art form being analyzed. There is no particular loyalty to the consumer, the chef, the restaurateur or anyone else -- the only loyalty is to the cause of excellence in that art form. In that regard, it is often helpful to have a good understanding of the mechanics of the form. This is especially true when evaluating the performing arts -- which restaurants most resemble -- because it becomes important to distinguish among various components of what you're looking at: in music or theater, for example, there's a difference between the composition/script and the performance, and there are all sorts of sub-categories such as the set design, lighting, acoustics, etc. As an amateur theater-goer, I haven't got a clue what effect lighting has on my perception of a production, but I have a friend who does lighting for a living and he assures me that it's awfully significant. Were I to become a theater critic, I'd certainly want to get to the bottom of that sort of thing. I wouldn't have to learn how to operate one of those huge lighting boards with a million sliders and dials (though these days I think it's more like just a Mac running some software), but I might spend a few days with my friend in the lighting booth just to get a clue.
It's not even that the critic should talk about all that technical stuff. It would be boring and pretentious. It's just that understanding it should subtly inform a critic's writing. And it helps with accuracy. You don't have to be a professional, but when they read your reviews professionals in the field shouldn't burst out laughing on account of your ignorance.
Umm, what if it is the only overcooked steak that left that kitchen in the last six months, and the critic won the lottery?
Just asking.
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anne
it is not really of any import who is to "blame."
a restaurant review by a critic comments on the quality of service and really does not need to assess blame.
That is for the restaurant to do.
however-someone who is writing a piece about restaurant service needs to have knowledge or an understanding of how restaurant service works (or doesn't)
there is a distinction here.
Absolutely, there is a distinction here. I agree.
However, it must be said, assessing blame is important.
For example, "The food was cold and tasted bad."
OK. The bottom line is that the food was cold and tasted bad. What happened? Was the food neglected, was the chef negligent, was the food runner lazy?
If the restaurant does not understand what happened, how will they improve? Bad feedback without some specifics is just bad feedback.
I can give you a specific example with my personal experience. I was reviewed as the server at Bistro One in Orange Park, Florida. It was a great little place, owned by the people who ran the Raintree in St. Augustine. It was one of my favorite jobs. The site has since been bulldozed, and I was between babies, so that would be 1985 or so.
It was a Sunday night, and I was simply in the weeds up to my neck. Something was going on, in that I had to take double my normal section on a Friday or Saturday in order to handle the volume. Staffing in the kitchen reflected the expected business that one would expect on a Sunday evening. Understaffed, that is.
I served the critic a cold cup of coffee. I should have checked but didn't and just poured it up and served it. When I checked back, she told me the coffee was cold, I immediately pulled the cup and apologized, then went into the back and started the fresh pot. I returned to the table, apologized for the delay, and told her I had started a fresh pot of coffee for her and that I would be serving it my next trip out. Then I did so.
Guess what? I got a great review. The restaurant was booming for several months later. I got a bonus from my boss that was more than generous, and I got the pick of wait sections for at least a month later until I was pregnant again, and had to slack off. I saved the establishment some ugliness in the Jacksonville, Florida paper, because I made time to make an error right.
I must add, that I was on very great terms with the kitchen there. If they told me the plate was going to be late, I went out and stalled. If they told me they had to start the plate over again, I went out and smiled and offered a free cocktail. Whatever it took, it was a team effort.
Do you realize what a disaster a cold cup of coffee could have been for that establishment if it had been written up differently? I was not aware that this was a critic until well after I waited on her, and the article was published. She dutifully recounted the episode in her review of the restaurant, and that is how we recognized her at a later date. It did wonders for business, and I made some additional bucks in the meantime.
She knew what was going on. Pure and simple. And her one complaint was mitigated by her knowledge, expertise, and experience.
One remark in her column that I will never forget was, "The waitress was busy, but never too busy to bring a straw for the child at our table, or start a fresh pot of coffee..."
Perceptions are not always reality. There is plenty of blame to go around, and it is usually spread pretty thick, but it needs to be identified and corrected. And I guess that is the point I am trying to make with all this typing.
Thanks again John.
Annie
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annecros,
Hi
Knowledge is important, actual hands on experience is less so, though i do not want to minimalize it.
For example a great music critic does not have to know how to play an instrument or even read music.
Some literary critics are also novelists and poets etc some are not.
They all need knowledge of the subject though.
As someone earlier noted in this thread--one can critique a restaurants service without having once been a waiter.
One can critique a dish without having prepared it.
I do not need any special insight or experience to recognize that a waiter is providing bad service (food and drink spilled, long waits for water glasses to be filled, orders screwed up etc).
That's not to say that someone who has been, say, a chef, does not bring something valuable to the art of criticism of food and restaurants.
I do not know if Johnny Apple (who I admire immensely as a writer and critic) was ever actually a waiter or ever actually worked in any capacity in a restaurant-but I trust him totally when he writes about food and service!
Hi John,
Actually, I think we are more in agreement here than disagreement. How's that for diplomacy?
My biggest point is that yes, the reviewer needs to be able to reflect the customer experience. He also needs to understand when he or she is being duped. And I think the best source of knowledge is hands on experience. You can read about sex, or voodoo, or composing a sonata - but does that mean that you really understand about sex, or voodoo or composing a sonata?
Did the waiter screw up the order? Or did the kitchen and food runner screw up the order? Or did the waiter have bad handwriting? or did you just get someone elses order because some other waiter wrote in the wrong table number?
Was it the waiter's responsibility to refill your water glass? Or was it the responsibility of the wait back? Or the bus people? Was the waiter overcome with volume, or just didn't care? Was the wait captain on the floor, directing his staff? Or was he absent after seating you for the duration of the meal?
Where do you lay the blame? On the restaurant as a whole, of course. But you really have to have the knowledge of the mechanics to understand the subtleties of where to lay the blame.
I guess I am sensitive, because what I do can and will have an effect upon the individuals I evaluate. Even if it is just a discussion and review of wait procedures between the captain and the server. It is still a reprecussion.
Publish the stuff in the New York Times, and the reprecussions magnify. Exponentially
Yes, the final result is at the table, and the dining experience is the point of the review. Granted. However, you can receive an exceptional dining experience in a house that is not running up to standard every day, or receive a dissappointing experience in a house that is running on all sixes. How will you tell the difference? Knowledge, pure and simple.
Enjoying the discussion, and thank you.
Annie
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Don't know what part of the country you are from, but even yankees are amazed and appreciative of this recipe for sausage cheese grits casserole:
http://www.marthawhite.com/recipes/recipeD...?recipeid=17444
Get up a little early, pop it in the oven, and let it go. I can't keep people out of it. Call it a polenta casserole if you like, and even use cooked polenta if you must be honest. No matter.
Modifications? I add about an eighth of a teaspoon of dried mustard, and do so on a regular basis. Something about dried mustard and cheddar does an amazing thing. Ham or bacon could be substituded for the sausage, if you like. Some diced green pepper, onion and mushroom have all been used in my household to keep things interesting. Heck, you could even toss a handfull of spinach in there if you are feeling frisky, or maybe garlic. Garlic/cheddar/onion make a very good seasoning mix, to my taste.
Other than that, I would think a quiche. Deep dish, in a springform, tall and full of lovely things. You have to mess around with the pastry though, and it would be a bit trickier than the dump and bake casserole. All depends upon your taste, and what you like.
Good luck.
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I agree that a restaurant critic need not have worked in the industry, but I think some expertise is called for, beyond mere enthusiasm for dining out—which is all Frank Bruni seems to bring to the party.I'm sympathetic to your views, Jennifer, but I think I share them only partly, because if we take them to a logical conclusion, that would mean that anyone writing political criticism would have had to have worked for a political campaign or something, and I don't believe that, so I guess that, in theory, I also don't think it's absolutely necessary for restaurant critics to have had experience other than as a writer and discerning customer in order for their views to be of some use.I don't think it is "expertise" that is important. One rarely, if ever, refers to critics and reviewers as 'experts."
I believe it is perspective that is important. That perspective can be the result of a critic who draws upon a certain expertise such as Pierre Franey or Craig Claiborn--it can be a cumulation of myriad experiences as a restaurant patron and food enthusiast--Johnny Apple or Ruth Reichl etc.
Hmm. Please help me understand. Isn't being an "expert" a vital component of being a critic? And isn't it implied, if not stated?
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/critic
I think that is where the source of the "gravitas" lies, in being expert. An art critic, a food critic, a music critic, in order to be taken seriously, must necessarily be an "expert", correct?
Drawing upon expertise is a life experience and can make one an expert, does it not? As does dining in numerous venues, and assorted cuisines and cultural influences and just plain not liking liver.
I guess I should make it clear, I do not think that having some hands on experience is required to be a critic, but I do believe that hands on experience can only increase one's expertise, thus making them a better critic, thus endowing the "gravitas" so necessary for the critic to be successful. In other words, a person can call himself a critic all he likes, but if he wants to be taken seriously he better have taken many steps across a kitchen or dining room if he wants me to listen to him. I certainly take with a HUGE grain of salt the opinion of anyone who has never worked in the industry, because I know that some subjectivness is going to creep in there, no matter how hard the reviewer or critic tries to remain objective. They just can't begin to realize the mechanics required to pull off a beautiful plate of food for several hundred people, seamlessly and, from the point of view of the customer, effortlessly. A great server will never let you see them sweat.
Some hands on experience can only improve the job the critic is being paid to do, and the worth of his opinion more valuable.
Then there are the objective/subjective opinions and evaluations heaped upon the bonfire of the review or criticism. I did find the story to be rather vain and self centered, but aren't most diners? It cannot hurt to offer the regular reader an insight, either, as some diners are of course oblivious.
Edit to add: A great server can and will make you like what you get. It is a simple fact that a multitude of sins can be handled with grace and diplomacy and sometimes a smattering of attitude, leaving the customer with the perception that the food was wonderful, the atmosphere incredible, and the service outstanding, even if they went through 3 cocktails and half a bottle of wine before dinner. In fact, especially if they went through 3 cocktails and half a bottle of wine before dinner. Unless one has snowed the customer, the customer will not even realize he is being snowed. If the face at the table does the job, and believe me, they will if they can (The tip depends upon it).
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I cannot see how some hands on experience could do anything but make a reviewer better, and enable him to do a better job for his/her customer, the reader interested in a restaurant.
Precisely!
I am amazed at the number of food writers who seem to have little to no industry experience. It's good to walk a mile in another person's shoes.
But for a real behind the scenes treat--why doesn't he try dishwashing? I did it for two years in high school. It was my first job.
That would be a good spot for someone who really wants to know how things work in a restaurant. Service sort of revolves around the basic necessity of clean plates, silver and glassware, pots and pans. The dishwasher often gets drafted by both sides of the house at times as well to bring up any slack that may be going on. Unfortunately, the dishwasher gets grief from both sides of the house as well when things aren't running efficiently.
I don't know what kind of shape Bruni is in physically, though.
What struck me was that he did not bring back, or at least did not acknowledge in his story, the fact that a great server can smooth over delays in food and beverage service that are beyond his/her control. Handle the grumpy customer who really just wants to complain, or make appropriate small talk with the one top that is lonely and just wants to chat. A great server can handle all of the above, plus the six top out on prom night, and make them all think they had a fantastic time in a first class restaurant and are eager to return or spread some positive word of mouth. It is an art form.
Can You Let Go of Your Food Sensibilities?
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
I had ice cream for breakfast the other day. Cherry Garcia, to be exact.
Yep, I felt all grown up. It's great when the kids are gone and you no longer have to set an example.