I have personally had the experience of working in a resto as part of the waitstaff and being told at our before-service meeting to be on our best behaviour because Lesley C would be dining at the resto that night. I often wondered how they knew this in advance. And sure enough, the head chef put all of his energy that night into overseeing her meal. Definitely not representative of the level of care that each plate usually received. I was also surprised by the level of friendly chatting going on between the chef and owner and the reviewer. Apparently they had known each other for some time. Surely this subjective experience influences what is written. Given that there appears to be a continuum upon which chefs/owners fall between the extreme of friendship to the other extreme of complete anonymity, my perception is that the illusion of objectivity should be relinquished and it be clearly stated to the reader what bias exists (for example, a partner working in the kitchen of the restaurant being reviewed). A bit less of the reporter-like tone, and perhaps more of a personal narrative that explicitly mentions whether or not the chefs were aware of being evaluated might resonate as being more fair to me.
