Restaurant Invitations

[fresh_a]

I'd love to know how this works with you:

When reviewing a restaurant, are you invited, or do you go incognito? Or does it go on the expense account?

What are your ideas on restaurant reviewers who announce themselves beforehand, eat free, then are expected to do favorable reviews? And those who do it anonymously?

[russ parsons]

First of all, I'm not a restaurant critic. I haven't been since I ran screaming from the practice more than a decade ago.

That said, the policy at the Times is that we pay for our own meals, that the critics go incognito (well, as much as possible ... to the extent they make reservations in different names and pay with credit cards issued in different names).

I have always follows this practice myself, but this does get tricky. A long time ago Michel Richard got mad at me because he never sent me a bill so I always left what he considered to be an extravagent tip for the staff. "This is my home and you don't pay to eat at my home!" he said. So I made one exception: if a chef has eaten dinner at my house, then I won't demand a check at his restaurant. Predictably, this is limited to only a handful of people.

Most restaurant don't seem to have a problem sending me a check. There are a few that do and it is hard to figure out what to do. Balancing my professional life and friendship is a tricky proposition. I don't want to take advantage of a situation, but I don't want to be rude, either. When I eat at one very famous restaurant that I'm not going to name because I'm beginning to feel like a name-dropper for mentioning it so often, the chef refuses to send a check. He's been a friend for a long time. He used to write for me. I do two things to make up: one, I send him occasional gifts of things I think he might like: books, music, whatever. two, he has a secret food vice (nothing illegal) and before dinner I always hand over an abundant supply of it. Three, I always leave a couple hundred dollars per person as a tip. I know it's not as much as I would have spent had I been a civilian, but it makes me feel like I'm not taking advantage.

[kpurvis]

Russ, just curious: How does the Times handle invitations for staff try-out nights for new restaurants? I turn them down as a matter of course, but some of our business writers take them.

[russ parsons]

Nope, don't do 'em. I wouldn't say never. If someone is a personal friend and you're not a restaurant critic and they understand that by you attending, you're promising you'll never write about them, then I might go. If "business folks" means the money-making side of the paper, sure, that's their role. They're the ones who have to go out and get the shit beat out of them when we write something nasty, I don't see why we should begrudge them a meal every once in a while. If by "business folks" you mean the business section and the people who cover the restaurant industry as a business, I think that would be very dicey.