Questionable Career Choice

[Holly Moore]

This popped up on the Philadelphia Restaurant usenet group.  It's the introductory column by the new critic for the Philadelphia Weekly.  The Weekly and the City Paper are Cemter City Philadelphia's two weekly alternative papers

Philadelphia Weekly - New Critic's First Column

[russ parsons]

there will always be a market for someone to tell the mediocre that they're just fine.

[Jinmyo]

Gah. Doesn't like sushi or sashimi, head-on shrimp, blue cheeses, oysters, polenta...

Was this person a sports writer before?

How did they get this job?

[tommy]

critics are generally not lovers of all things they are, um, criticizing.  no one is surprised when a music critic doesn't like a particular band, or an movie critic doesn't like a particular movie.  but for some reason we are amazed when a food critic doesn't like certain foods.  (considering i'm the self-professed analogy police, i will say right now that this was a slightly weak analogy)

at the end of the day, they are just writers, whose opinions, while possibly a bit more informed than the average joe's (not ours of course), are simply opinions.

[Jinmyo]

at the end of the day, they are just writers, whose opinions, while possibly a bit more informed than the average joe's (not ours of course), are simply opinions.

I agree entirely.

[Bux]

critics are generally not lovers of all things they are, um, criticizing.  no one is surprised when a music critic doesn't like a particular band, or an movie critic doesn't like a particular movie.  but for some reason we are amazed when a food critic doesn't like certain foods.  (considering i'm the self-professed analogy police, i will say right now that this was a slightly weak analogy)

Slightly weak? It's not like this guy doesn't like certain restaurants, it's that he won't put many popular foods in his mouth and offer an opinion on them. As if a music critic didn't like certain notes, not certain music. Imagine a movie critic who would watch movies that took place on a bus, or on a farm or had scenes where the color orange predominated. Now that's my kind of analogy.

Jinmyo, I was introduced to a food writer the other night. I asked how he started his career. He said the usual way, he was a sports writer and they needed someone to cover food--or something like that. And he's one of the guys whose work I've liked

Oh yeah, he had great enthusiasm for food and eating, and a good sense of humor. That really helps and I don't sense that enthusiasm in the subject of this thread.

[Jinmyo]

Bux, it seems this was his first column. In this, he laid out his likes and dislikes, which is good.

Perhaps he'll write great and interesting reviews. Be very enthusiastic about what he likes, entertaining and obviously over-the-top about what he doesn't.

But the man doesn't like blue cheeses. I mean. You know. I'm all for tolerance and that but this is beyond the pale.

   

In any case, he doesn't seem to be "into it". And I do think a certain enthusiasm about what is writing about makes it more interesting for those who find themselves reading it.  

Are your sports/food writer friend's articles online?

edit full disclosure: I forgot the "is" in "this is beyond". Perhaps a Heideggerean slip about the ungraspability of Being amidst beings? Nah. Just bad typing. Sorry. Fixed.

[tommy]

Slightly weak?

would you believe, "moderately weak"?

:wow:

[Bux]

Slightly weak?

would you believe, "moderately weak"?

:wow:

As you are well aware, the really good analogies are moderately weak. It's all downhill from there.

[Steve Klc]

How do we know Robin is male?

My read after this first column is that Robin is a decent writer looking for an edge, trying to establish a strong voice or an identifiable shtick in order to get noticed and attract readers.  No more, no less.  Personally, I think it might be fun to follow Robin a bit despite his/her misguided and probably faux-populist sensibilities.

It isn't unusual for a free city paper or weekly to focus on the lower end of dining and food as its readership is young.  Occasionally a writer for a paper like this--like Brett Anderson did while at Washington DC's  City Paper--demonstrates a deft hand reviewing and appreciating high and low.  Brett went on to contribute pieces to Gourmet and landed a job as a mainstream newspaper restaurant critic in New Orleans.

We just might end up liking Robin.

[Liza]

I think the reference to "her mouth" was what got me thinking Robin just might be female. Could be wrong.

And I think it was the references to a vast variety of edibles that she not just doesn't like, but 'won't put in her mouth' that got me thinking I won't find any enlightenment, knowedge or interesting food writing in her column. Again, could be wrong.  

[Steve Klc]

Liza, of course not finding any "enlightenment, knowedge or interesting food writing in her column" would be a good thing for us, too!

[Mebutter]

Aw, I just think she/he is having a little fun.

It's certainly a more interesting intro than the "I've been a writer for 6 years and been eating for 25."

And, who knows? Eating out a lot may change this critic's mind.

After 5 years I've found I really do like fried calamari after all but wince whenever I see a frisbee-sized portobello mushroom slide toward me. (I still eat them - and would never say "I don't like them" because I know my readers eat them.)

[tommy]

not only am i a restaurant/food critic, but i'm also a music critic.  however, i do not like classical music.  i just don't get it.  consequently, i don't buy classical CDs, i don't go to see yo-yo at carnegie, and i certainly don't review yo-yo or any other classical artist.  i stick to things like blue grass, emo, and classic rock.

does that make me a bad critic?  do you even think twice when you hear that?

pls bear with me...i gotta get this moderately weak analogy up to a respetable level.  of course, at that point, no one will give a damn about what i'm saying anyway!  :confused:

and for the record, i like robin's article.

[Liza]

And I like blue cheese!

And understand and agree with you, Tommy. But as you've noted before, I'm harsh and critical and in general, misanthropic.

[Ron Johnson]

Tommy, it isn't that a music critic needs to like all types of music, but that he/she needs to be able to appreciate quality, talent, or skill in all types.  If the critic shows an abject disdain for a type of music and a consequent unwillingness to experience it in order to render a criticism then they should find another line of work.  Its not anything wrong with the person per se, its just that they aren't qualified to be a critic.  

The same is true for food.  If one is neither willing nor able to experience all types of food and equally willing and able to render educated opinions about the same, then they are not qualified to be a food critic.  I would hate to think that in some city an entire category of food goes unreviewed because the critic doesn't like it.

[Steve Klc]

Or just contribute pieces in their area of expertise--and not in areas like classical music where others might do it much better.  The problem with food and restaurant criticism--and why the music analogy doesn't work fully here--is that you have to be a generalist inherently just to do a decent job.  My lack of awareness of rap wouldn't hinder my ability to discuss the Masonic themes in Mozart operas.

In food, I have no problem with writers knowing their limitations and areas of expertise and working within them--those that don't know their limitations yet go beyond them anyway are the problem.  I say let's give Robin a chance to show us what she knows.  Better to announce your disinterest, bias and prejudices upfront rather than delude your readers into thinking you don't have any.

[tommy]

as i suggested, i don't like classical.  i don't get it.  you might even say that i don't appreciate it.  so does that make me incapable of writing for the indie mags that i write for?  i think not.  am i a capable and effective reviewer of music even with this missing piece?  yes.  am i qualified?  you'd better believe it.

also, i think robin has exaggerated in her piece a bit.  i think she might have been over emphasizing her disdain for sushi and truffles to make that point that you can't beat a simple pasta dish done well.

Factoid

I would hate to think that in some city an entire category of food goes unreviewed because the critic doesn't like it.

that will never happen considering the average shmucks like us can get online and babble about anything under the sun.  

[tommy]

steve, how would you define a "decent job" in restaurant/food criticism?

[mamster]

Tommy, it isn't that a music critic needs to like all types of music, but that he/she needs to be able to appreciate quality, talent, or skill in all types.  If the critic shows an abject disdain for a type of music and a consequent unwillingness to experience it in order to render a criticism then they should find another line of work.

Okay, I completely disagree with this, and I worked as a popular music critic for about three years.  I do like classical music, but I was never going to be called on to write an article about it at my rock-critic job.  I don't like jazz, bubblegum, or contemporary C&W.  That doesn't mean I don't believe they are worthwhile art forms;  I just don't enjoy listening to them.  That's why I was hired as a rock critic:  my enthusiasm for rock and roll was inherent in my writing.  I didn't actively denigrate the types of music I dislike, I just didn't mention them.

In music it's easier to get away with that than with food, because the palette available in music is more complex, I think.  I might argue that there are only a few kinds of taste receptors on the tongue but many more kinds of "music receptors" in the brain.  In any case, I'd be pretty suspicious of a music critic who claimed to like every type of music, and I'd be equally suspicious of a critic trying to build a career criticizing something she's not interested in.

That said, I liked the Philly critic's column.  If nothing else, she's got us talking about her.

[Jinmyo]

Yes, mamster, but it seems we'll talk about anything.

[Bux]

My read after this first column is that Robin is a decent writer looking for an edge, trying to establish a strong voice or an identifiable shtick in order to get noticed and attract readers.  No more, no less.  Personally, I think it might be fun to follow Robin a bit despite his/her misguided and probably faux-populist sensibilities.

I just think she/he is having a little fun.

but it seems we'll talk about anything.

In defense of Robin and myself, I'd like to paraphrase the best sig I've even seen online. It said something to the effect that the post represented the author's personal opinions and not his employer's and went on to say that the reader was free to take these opinions as the author probably wouldn't want them in the morning.

[tommy]

In defense of Robin and myself, I'd like to paraphrase the best sig I've even seen online. It said something to the effect that the post represented the author's personal opinions and not his employer's and went on to say that the reader was free to take these opinions as the author probably wouldn't want them in the morning.

interestingly enough, i was using that as my email email sig for quite some time.  seemed *very* fitting for me.

[Holly Moore]

As I wrote elsewhere, my main problem with Ms. Rinaldi is that she likes her steak cooked to a dreary medium.  How can I consider culinary guidence from someone who ruins a steak by overcooking it.  

While I do think, in her first column, she (I assume Robin is a she) is partially poking fun at the trendy food crowd, I am bothered that someone with such vast food prejudices would be reviewing restaurants as a general critic. Seems unfair to restaurants, along with the reader.

Perhaps though it is just a cry for attention, an announcement that she has arrived.  If that is the case, I prefer it to another tactic I have observed among new critics looking to create a name for themselves - deliberately panning a great restaurant just for the controversy.

[mamster]

Can I admit that I didn't like sushi before I became a food writer, and I'll now happily gobble anything a sushi chef drops in front of me?

I think our Philadelphia-based friend will be eating her words sooner or later.  Has anyone invited her to join this thread and defend herself?