Phila Weekly Restaurant Critic "Misconduct"

[Holly Moore]

In this week's Philadelphia Weekly restaurant review, critic Brian McManus describes Misconduct's hamburger as "simply divine."

Even Florence Fabricant, sporting Dolly Levi's favorite Easter bonnet (admittedly, a very screwed up metaphor) would think twice before uttering the terms "simply divine." But a guy writing about burgers?

This reviewer of restaurant reviewers urges Mr. McManus to retreat into his Thesaurus or reruns of the Man Show and come up with a better description for a good burger.

Edited August 10, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[Chris Amirault]

I dunno.... As someone who wrote reviews for a short period of time and ran out of adjectives pretty quickly, I'd be first in line to cut slack. But "simply divine": is it a reference to Better Midler or something?

[Holly Moore]

Before anyone points it out. Yeah, I'm a guy named Holly. But that's different.

[philadining]

Those following the Weekly's restaurant reviews over the summer will have noticed that McManus is rarely at a loss for words, usually deploying them fairly creatively in what have mostly been amusingly savage pans of places he's found pretentious or lacking. If I understand it, he's a music writer, subbing on the food beat temporarily, so there may not be many more reviews to deconstruct...

In his critique of Ortlieb's, he uses the phrase "aching with spice" and then promptly mocks himself for doing so. I didn't detect the same post-modern irony in his use of "Simply divine," and it does sound a little odd in 2007, in reference to a burger, but I thought his tale of trying to get the lunch special was pretty funny...

[Tim Dolan]

I'm more confused about the $10 possibly-alcoholic lemonade. The line about slapping any vegetarian friends was great.

[russ parsons]

Before anyone points it out.  Yeah, I'm a guy named Holly.  But that's different.

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hmmm, forgive an impertinent question: were your parents writing on deadline when they came up with that name?

[Holly Moore]

Before anyone points it out.  Yeah, I'm a guy named Holly.  But that's different.

←

hmmm, forgive an impertinent question: were your parents writing on deadline when they came up with that name?

←

Dad put it this way:

``Now you just fought one hell of a fight And I know you hate me, and you got the right To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do. But ya ought to thank me, before I die, For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you `Holly.'''

Edited August 10, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[philadining]

I will SO buy a ticket for the Holly Moore bio-pic.

Titles?

[MarketStEl]

If this guy decides he wants to write restaurant reviews on an ongoing basis, maybe I should start reading PW again.

My take on the lavender-scented adjectival phrase is that McManus is a John Waters fan and was commenting on the burger's dress(ing); the copy editors simply forgot to capitalize the D. We can allow that, can't we?

Now I gotta go back through the archives and read his pans. I clearly have been missing something.

Then I gotta go over to Misconduct and have the "lunch burger".

[KatieLoeb]

Purple prose aside, what's up with the strange pricing, secret deals on different days, secret ordering code and the clueless staff? That burger better be divine if it takes that much work to get it to me at the price quoted on the menu. And a ten-effing-dollar lemonade better have some high end hooch in it or be made from yuzu fruits hand squeezed by Dhali-Lamas-in-training or that's just criminal. Period.

[Jack Sprat]

Personally, I kind of like the new guy. He's amusing at least. Many times I contemplated writing into "I love you, I hate you" to rant about Kirsten Henri. If you managed to bore your way through all of her adjectives (column written with thesaurus in hand, no doubt), then you would ultimately find that she made all of her opinions based on the price of the meal. Cheap eats = 5 stars. Expensive = 1 star, with rare exceptions.

One time for a column she just went around the city looking at the prices of chicken dishes and writing them down! Look it up.

The other thing I like about the new guy is that he (or somebody) is picking more obscure places, that might not have been reviewed elsewhere. He did an asian place in southwest philly, misconduct, ortlieb's, etc. To me, it's more appealing to read something fresh than, for example, a fifth take on tinto.

[MarketStEl]

Personally, I kind of like the new guy. He's amusing at least. Many times I contemplated writing into "I love you, I hate you" to rant about Kirsten Henri. If you managed to bore your way through all of her adjectives (column written with thesaurus in hand, no doubt), then you would ultimately find that she made all of her opinions based on the price of the meal. Cheap eats = 5 stars. Expensive = 1 star, with rare exceptions.

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Ten points for the double entendre. Twenty if it was unintentional, as I suspect.

[serpentine]

I haven't decided whether I've forgiven McManus for "The ceiling is fitted with tiny patches of the sort of material sails are made of."

At this point in the review, I stopped thinking about burgers because my mind did this:

Wow, is that awkward.

And, uh, wouldn't that be canvas?

Oh, perhaps he's referencing synthetic cloth and isn't sure what it's called.

Yeah, that's called..."sailcloth."

Google is your friend.

[philadining]

Well, then there's his rather unique assessment of 707's onion rings:

These rings are everything tempura’s not: heavy and greasy with a lingering, almost poison-like aftertaste.