Regional Restaurant Journalism

[Adam Balic]

I find that the Edinburgh reviewers are not critical enough. Not nessarily lacking in negative comments, but lacking in comments about the food. While they will make comments about the decor or amounts of tables they, will pass over the food as a secondary item.

Also I will have to scream if I see another article metioning the 'excellent seabass', which then turns out to be mushy, flavourless farmed seabass in a city that is right next to the North Sea, which rumour has it, has quite bit of decent fish in it.

[shelora]

"The worst of the bunch is Alison Davidson at the Birmingham Post. She also has her own website here. She's vegetarian! A veggie food critic, I ask you! God, give me strength..."

Spending most of my time lurking here, I've decided to chime in.

I read all of Davidson's short reviews. Many thanks, it gave me great hope for my future as a food writer. Doesn't she have an editor? Does she get paid? Couldn't any of you apply for her job? How does a vegetarian speak about the meat dishes? Does she take a carnivore out for lunch or does she simply write up whats on the menu?

S

[postcode]

"The worst of the bunch is Alison Davidson at the Birmingham Post. She also has her own website here. She's vegetarian! A veggie food critic, I ask you! God, give me strength..."

Spending most of my time lurking here, I've decided to chime in.

I read all of Davidson's short reviews. Many thanks, it gave me great hope for my future as a food writer.  Doesn't she have an editor? Does she get paid? Couldn't any of you apply for her job? How does a vegetarian speak about the meat dishes? Does she take a carnivore out for lunch or does she simply write up whats on the menu?

S

←

She's freelance, but looks after (with Jane Howarth) the food reviews. She also has her own silly website, which you've seen, and now has a food magazine called The Foodie, it's Website is here.I think she edits her own pieces and yes she gets paid. She always takes a carnivore with her and he/she gives her the feedback on the 'meat end' of the food. It's nothing but puff journalism and all governed by who does and who doesn't pay for advertising in the paper itself.

Birmingham's critics in general are pretty lousy. Annette Rubery at Metro is really the only one that's taken seriously, as she's not restricted to looking after advertisers. Her deputy, Chris Beanland, who also writes on food is barely out of short trousers and his reviews are laughable.

[KaffirLime]

She always takes a carnivore with her and he/she gives her the feedback on the 'meat end' of the food.

Rumour has it that the next motoring journalist for the Birmingham Post will only have a licence to drive automatics but they are keen to stress that this will in no way affect the quality of car reviews as the journalist will always take along a friend with a full licence...."My friend said the Perodua handled beautifully in the wet and from my position in the passenger seat it certainly seemed to do so...."

Coming soon a new weekly gardening column from the Post's very own agoraphobic landscaper

[shelora]

Well put Kaffirlime.

I think it's bogus to NOT taste what the heck it is you are writing about. The food critic's samples listed by you and Lynes were truly strange - the dissertation on wibbliness particularly disturbing.

I'm keeping them close by as examples of what not to do.

There should be awards set up for this sort of stuff.

S

[Andy Lynes]

The food critic's samples listed by you and Lynes

←

Just for future reference, I really don't like to be called "Lynes" on the forums. Andy will do fine. Thanks.

[shelora]

So sorry, Andy. Correction noted.

Which reminds me of a joke. Q - "Where are the Andys?" A - " At the end of the wristies."

Best regards,

Shelora

[oedipus]

Interesting debate. Are there examples of national food critics being recruited from regional rags rather than moving across from other areas within the same newspaper? If not, and assuming that writing for a national paper is regarded as a step up, there seems little motivation for regional critics to raise their game.

[postcode]

Interesting debate. Are there examples of national food critics being recruited from regional rags rather than moving across from other areas within the same newspaper? If not, and assuming that writing for a national paper is regarded as a step up, there seems little motivation for regional critics to raise their game.

←

I would doubt it. I'd hazard a guess that the nationals appoint their 'food critics' from within. They're seemingly appointed for their writing skills and not their knowledge of the subject. Any good journalist should be able to write on most subjects, given the opportunity to do some sort of research to back it up. But, what do I know?

[jamiemaw]

The worst of the bunch is Alison Davidson at the Birmingham Post. She also has her own website here. She's vegetarian! A veggie food critic, I ask you! God, give me strength...

←

If there is but one thing more distressing than sitting nextish to a slowlyish composting vegetarian at dinner, it was reading some of the 'reviews' on Ms. Alison Davidson's website. I shall take them to the culinary journalism class I help out with next week at UBC, as an example of unfettered crap. As opposed to crapish, that is.

[PoppySeedBagel]

I've always just seen them as a good laugh - years ago there was a reviewer in the Yorkshire Evening Post on a Saturday who judged his meals almost entirely by the size of the prtions and if he got a chocolate mint with his coffee he was in heaven. It was the first thing I turned to.

Our local paper has a man who reviews a diffrent teashop each week - he has quaint turn of phrase ('I motored through the Surrey dusk') and he never really comments on the food, just, very baldly, on what he observes happening in the café - it's so badly written, it's charming.

[KaffirLime]

Here's another snippet for Jamie taken from Lorne Jackson's review of the Birmingham La Tasca in last weeks Sunday Mercury (February 27):

"The Pollo Al Ajillo - chicken breast cooked in white wine and garlic - was bland as a newsletter published by the National Association of Actuaries, stringy as a supermodel's biceps".

Or how about some of his descriptions of other dishes:

Tortilla Espanola - Potatotally amazing

Champignones Ajillo - Champion chomp

Cordero En Salsa - Baa baa bland

Pan Fresco - Dough-licious

Priceless, absolutley priceless! The Sunday Mercury is the largest regional Sunday paper in the UK but you'd think this guy was writing for Kerrang or Sweet Sixteen.

[jamiemaw]

I've always just seen them as a good laugh - years ago there was a reviewer in the Yorkshire Evening Post on a Saturday who judged his meals almost entirely by the size of the prtions and if he got a chocolate mint with his coffee he was in heaven.  It was the first thing I turned to.

Our local paper has a man who reviews a diffrent teashop each week - he has quaint turn of phrase ('I motored through the Surrey dusk') and he never really comments on the food, just, very baldly, on what he observes happening in the café - it's so badly written, it's charming.

←

You're absolutely right--they are just a good laugh. Which leads me to think there's probably a bigish book to be had in collecting the best howlers. KaffirLime proposes these:

KaffirLime Posted Today, 12:35 PM

  Here's another snippet for Jamie taken from Lorne Jackson's review of the Birmingham La Tasca in last weeks Sunday Mercury (February 27):

"The Pollo Al Ajillo - chicken breast cooked in white wine and garlic - was bland as a newsletter published by the National Association of Actuaries, stringy as a supermodel's biceps". 

Or how about some of his descriptions of other dishes:

Tortilla Espanola - Potatotally amazing

Champignones Ajillo - Champion chomp

Cordero En Salsa - Baa baa bland

Pan Fresco - Dough-licious

Priceless, absolutley priceless! The Sunday Mercury is the largest regional Sunday paper in the UK but you'd think this guy was writing for Kerrang or Sweet Sixteen.

Reminds me of an 'Italian' restaurant in Hawaii when our bleach-blonde surfer dude waiter bid me to "Enjoy your awesome bucco!"

Unfortunately, my new contract restricts me to but three overt sexual references per column, so I am exploring new metaphors. The Hockey Strike has helped.

Edited March 3, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)