Vancouver Restaurant Reviewers

[maxmillan]

Generally, I try new restaurants when I hear good reviews from food critics in the newspapers or from friends and from eGullet.

But I find that it's not always the same experience that these critics describe it to be.

A critic may describe the ambience in great detail (which I don't care for) and let that bias their opinion about the actual food (example Ch'i). Others may describe a restaurant to be a good value, when to me, it is not. Some are just not good critics of Asian food in general.

Who would you recommend as a good Vancouver food critic?

[Andrew Morrison]

Ling.

Mooshmouse.

Jamie Maw.

[barolo]

I usually compare a number of reviews to tease out the information that is important to me. We all have biases and may not share the same priorities, so I think it is useful to be clear on what you are looking for when reading a review.

Andrew has given you a pretty good list but I find almost all reviewers will provide some useful information, even if I do not agree with them. You just have to do some calibrating and learn to read between the lines.

[*Deborah*]

Ling.

Mooshmouse.

Jamie Maw.

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The Holy Trinity of eGullet Vancouver?

I'd add Daddy-A to that list, as well, and Peppyre (especially about wine!!!).

And I agree with Anne: once you become used to people's reviews, you can figure out how their opinions are similar/differ from yours, and you can adjust accordingly.

Edited April 9, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[PaoPao]

As I have different tastes than most, restaurant critics in my book are in the same category as the Horoscope column. Just a persons opinion that I may glance at for entertainment but don't give much if any credit.

The best places I have eaten at have been from the suggestions of friends, etc. Even then some of my current favourites were not love at first bite, I had to go a few times.

What is much more interesting to me is when I read about or watch someone (A Cooks Tour) explore new things that push their own boundaries, and then talk about it. I could care less about reading if the server kept your coffee cup full or dribbled a few drops.

[jamiemaw]

The current (April, 2005) issue of BC Business has an article by Mark Laba (the Province's restaurant reveiwer) entitled "In Flagrante Delicto".

The cover banner reads--"An insider's take on the incestuous world of restaurant reviews". It purports to be a tell-all dish on the conflicts arising out of restaurant reviewing. Unfortunately, it's fairly evident that the piece has been "lawyered" half to death--it names few names, quotes anonymous sources as "two reliable sources" or "industry insiders" or uses obsolete illustrative examples from the years 2000 and 2004. One source it does quote, Don Genova, in a sidebar regarding called "Why I Don't Review Anymore" concerns the freebies he seemingly used to accept, but fails to disclose the real reason he literally moved on: Vancouver Island became his principal residence two years ago, so he did the honourable thing and excused himself.

Like a weak restaurant, the article promises more than it delivers, but may still be a worthwhile read for those unfamiliar with some of the potential conflicts of interest available to restaurant reviewers; of course the same may be said about automotive, movie and, especially, travel writers.

FYI, here's how we covered the same ground in December, 2003

I read a number of periodicals each week to stay abreast of what’s going on in the culinary world. They’re a combination of criticism and feature writing, because as several of you have said, oft-times multiple sources can triangulate a sensible conclusion.

Wednesday

Food sections of

New York Times

SF Chronicle

Los Angeles Times

Thursday

Mia Stainsby

Tim Pawsey

Friday

Angela Murrills

Anthony Gismondi

Saturday

Wall Street Journal

The Financial Times—Weekend FT—especially for Jancis Robinson

Sunday

AA Gill in the Sunday Times—for entertainment mainly

I don’t as a rule read Jamie Maw because I agree with his fiancée that he is a lapsed sit-com writer (with a propensity for weak puns) whose turbid prose only occasionally intersects with what he ate for dinner. In fact, I trust the Victoria’s Secret catalogue much more than any opinions voiced by that lamentable shill Maw and you can quote me on that.

Edited April 9, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[tokyogurumegal]

Generally I don't take local reviews too seriously and usually trust my foodie friends who dine out regularly. It helps to have friends who entertain clients on a hefty corporate expense account since they have pretty much tried most of the expensive places that you don't want to risk with your own cashola. However, come to think of it I haven't read too many bad reviews on local restaurants! There's a fine line between journalism, friendship and public relations. Joanne Kates is really the only critic in Canada who is ballsy enough to rip a restaurant apart. Which leads to Mr. Maw's article which he hyperlinked. I was surprised to read that Joanne Kates reviews from just one visit. I read an article several years ago of her describing how she disguises herself each visit, brings her friends along to sample as many dishes and goes back few times. Has she become lazy over the years? Personally, I enjoy Joanne Kates writing not just her gastronomic opinions.

Like Jamie Maw, I read a lot of those articles he mentioned since I tend to travel to those cities frequently and it's great to keep up with what's new for my next visit. The other reason I follow critics from those rags is because there are only so many meals you can have when you're visiting and you really don't want to risk having a not so good meal. Also, food trends usually start in other bigger cities in my opinion. A.A. Gill may be a journalist with an agenda but I have to agree with him with 66!!! Spice Market is equally bad!! Jean Georges should have stopped at Vong's, although I haven't been to V Steakhouse. Sorry, I went off on a tangent there...

Some are just not good critics of Asian food in general.

Maximillan, I can't agree with you more! However it's understandable. If you're not from a particular Asian culture, you might not have enough exposure to acquire the taste for some things. I can think of many Japanese food items that would take a lot of getting use to, which is why you don't see it in menus in Vancouver "yet". I use to hate cilantro, blue cheese and licorice but now I love it! (these dislikes are very common amongst Japanese people... don't ask me why) I got a little long winded here but what I am trying to say is some of these critics are writing with different expectations and standards. It's all subjective after all, cross cultural critiquing gets tricky! Plus, many local Asian restaurants really don't care much about decor and atmosphere. I'm sure it'll catch on like it has in NY's Megu, Matsuri, Geisha and Tao where you have flashy decor with not so great food and/or over priced food.

[privatejet]

The best restaurant reviews, in my humble newbie opinion, come from original creative writing wrapped around context. I find that the more food adjectives used, the more vacuous the article. Who give's a rat's ass about a drop of wine or a clink of bottle on glass, service of coffee before or after dessert, or if the root veg mash claimed celeriac but was really rutabaga? The writing of food should be culture and context - hand crafted reflections reflecting the toil of the experience experienced.

I think Jamie Maw is the best reviewer Vancouver has. Extremely insightful, entertaining, original and free of pretense. Good puns, double entendres and enough original metaphors to make George Orwell hack a few post-mortem chuckles. Quantity of quality to make Kerouac proud. He also evidently writes pretty well half-in-the-bag...

One thing, though, his list of recently-read reviewers lacks a little street cred. Far from pourin' chandon with coolio, a flip through Terminal City is the best time to spend with a morning-coffee-after-the-night-before-cleansing-ales. As for food reviewers, its rotating third-last page gets its hands dirty with city darkness astride culinaria. Bess Lovejoy won best Chambar review hands down, a title with many contenders and pretenders. Describing the Kentucky Caprhinia as Brittney Spears in a Tennessee Williams' play evokes more deliciousness than the entire Province adjective database.

I think we'll find the culinary Pauline Kael emerging from the street rather than from the ugly edifices of CanWest Global Corporation.

Q Kayne

[*Deborah*]

The best restaurant reviews, in  my humble newbie opinion, come from original creative writing wrapped around context.  I find that the more food adjectives used, the more vacuous the article. Who give's a rat's ass about a drop of wine or a clink of bottle on glass, service of coffee before or after dessert, or if the root veg mash claimed celeriac but was really rutabaga?

←

Call me picky, but I prefer it when the menu properly describes the dish I'm ordering. I also think it's worthwhile when a published reviewer can recognize the difference.

I agree with your like of Jamie Maw's reviews, as well as those in Terminal City (but I remember when that was a punk rock street rag that wouldn't go near a place like Chambar--did they even use to have restaurant reviews? I find it a bit disconcerting, really).

I am a bit confused by your stated dislike of adjectives and admiration of well-turned metaphor and simile...the right adjective is like the nose on a good Pauillac an hour after opening. But anyway. Welcome from a near-newbie.

[jamiemaw]

private jet

I think  Jamie Maw . . .

Q Kayne

Thank you very much for the praise which is entirely undeserved as I like to say in my usually falsely-modest way, Mum.

A lot of people think the life of a restaurant critic or food writer (two completely different enterprises by the way) is endlessly glamourous--filled with great meals, fabulous babes and exotic wines. Of course they're absolutely right. Although they got it completely backwards at the restaurant I was at last night--the babes were exotic and the wines were fabulous. Quite a refreshing change, actually.

I find that the more food adjectives used, the more vacuous the article.

• This is absolutely true. Metaphor=good; Adjectives=mainly bad. In the culinary journalism class I help out with at UBC, we sometimes play a game called Spot the Amateur. I select a few columns and amateur writings and read out paragraphs at random. The bellwethers are mainly adjectives, not syntax, and I tell them I'll have to kill them if they ever use these words: succulent (OK as a noun though), scrumptious, yummy, fare, decadent, eatery, transcendent, swimming, falling off the bone (we pefer to call that move the Full Jenna), or sinful.

A few more random thoughts from the perspective of the restaurant critic, which answers in part some of the questions asked elsewhere on this thread.

• We don’t go out of our way to trash businesses. In fact some of the worst kind of restaurant journalism occurs in Great Britain where sensationalistic articles are frequently based on only one visit. For a feature review, as I’ve stated before around here, we revisit a restaurant on enough occasions to ensure that we have tasted dishes sufficient to get full measure of the quality of food and service. If we feel we’ve been noticed, we often send in other editors.

That being said, we'll be tough when we feel it's justified.

• Job Hazards: We’ve had threats (we had to send the police to visit one deranged Greek restaurateur on a couple of occasions); threatened lawsuits; stalkers in our garden and, in one memorable incident, a six page letter from an Italian restaurant owner of some reputation that was so full of spitting invective that I have hung it in a place of honour.

• Soup is the food critic’s friend. One sip and you can often read how the rest of the night is going to play out and if the kitchen is paying attention.

• Of the approximately 1,000 restaurants that we review annually, about 130 are Asian. While not quite true to the actual proportion of Asian restaurants relative to their provincial population (quality Asian restaurants tend to drop off precipitously the farther you travel from an urban core), it does reflect the demographic of our readership.

• There are some food critics who know something about food (and may have worked in a restaurant); some who can write; and some who understand the business of restaurateuring. Rare are those who are proficient at all three. There is the ‘I Came, I Ate, I Left’ school who attempt to simply reflect a sort of weird culinary shopping trip. Then there are the professional victims like Joanne Kates, who is in a class of her own. I hope that the Globe finds a way to stretch its restaurant reviews nationally; it has occurred to me that there are restaurants in cities other than Toronto and Mississauga.

• This week I've spent about $1,100 in restaurants, a fairly busy week, but we're updating the Eating + Drinking Guide.

• My weaknesses: Asian noodle soups. It's a quest and I'm still looking for the perfect bowl. Ditto perfect Coq au vin, Siberian peach pie and top-drawer chicken pot pie remain elusive as well.

Edited April 10, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[tokyogurumegal]

• My weaknesses: Asian noodle soups. It's a quest and I'm still looking for the perfect bowl. Ditto perfect Coq au vin, Siberian peach pie and top-drawer chicken pot pie remain elusive as well.

Flashback of the movie Tampopo! The quest to make the perfect ramen...

If you've seen the movie before, do you remember the fat bald white man slurping his pasta when a group of ladies are taking etiquette lessons in a restaurant? He was a famous French pastry chef in Tokyo called Andre Lecomte. He had several high end patisseries in Tokyo and a restaurant in Ginza. Tokyo's celebrity chef of the 80's doing a cameo... Can you picture Thomas Keller doing a cameo in an indie movie?!

[jamiemaw]

• My weaknesses: Asian noodle soups. It's a quest and I'm still looking for the perfect bowl. Ditto perfect Coq au vin, Siberian peach pie and top-drawer chicken pot pie remain elusive as well.

Flashback of the movie Tampopo! The quest to make the perfect ramen...

If you've seen the movie before, do you remember the fat bald white man slurping his pasta when a group of ladies are taking etiquette lessons in a restaurant? He was a famous French pastry chef in Tokyo called Andre Lecomte. He had several high end patisseries in Tokyo and a restaurant in Ginza. Tokyo's celebrity chef of the 80's doing a cameo... Can you picture Thomas Keller doing a cameo in an indie movie?!

←

The Forest Fire ramen at Kintaro (served on weekends) comes pretty close and there is a certain Tampopo-like frisson in the room.

[privatejet]

Perhaps this is what it takes to bring the decision from the food critic to the hands of those who it should be in, the people. Punk-rock sensibilities are thirty years old now, and anyone who considers these groundbreaking or mindblowing have become those stodgy types in power.

Tradition is foundation, but recognition and embrace of that which can unsettle us is the only way to progress. Throw open Escoffier to the hip hop muses while still recognizing peasant necessity of local ingredients. Demand the beautiful simplicity of a caprese salad in the post-punk pouch from Finch's. Have a BC burger from White Spot and recognize all its postmodern contradictions. What? Tim Horton's is owned by a multinational corporation? What does Feenie's Weenie mean? How much a part of you is Mr Tube Steak?

I guess what I'm getting at is that the food should be the starting point. A restaurant reviewer on egullet has as much (if not more) responsibility to understand the political economy of food than a simple print journalist. The thinly veiled responsibility of a globe- or sun reporter is to sell more newspapers. Bitch and whine and photograph a good-looking chef and your obligation is ended.?.

This, to me, is why metaphors for food are meaningful. It is like the bullfights in Spain. A grand, beautiful display of respect for the ultimately doomed animal. To ignore the bullfights as cruel is to deny their simple truth. The highest respect paid - a glorious death for consumption. As gory and macabre as it is, the death of a true, living, breathing animal is shown in all its horror, pageantry and primacy as necessity. It is not shuttled to an industrial corner of a sparsley-populated region, but acknowledged for what it is.

That, to me, is what a food critic must do. Pull together all the gossamer threads of culture, consumption and cruelty and make sense of it for the ready masses. What will a fleeting gustatory event reveal to the masses? Nothing. But that which can become internalized by way of ingestion, integration and explication can become elucidatory in a way which becomes deeper than simple taste/digestion. We are all eating our way through our lives by a complex interaction, and the realization of this fact and its corresponding charge is what our food critics must realize.

pass the hooch,

Q.

P.S. that nose from the paulliac comes from missing the greatest event of the 18th century, the french revolution. the chateaux of bordeau somehow missed the commun-ization of estates and retained their profits for their masters. the sweet scents of burgundy (if you prefer barnyard), however, fell to the tide of liberte egalite and fraternite and have become the frustrating, glorious heartbreak that we drink today (with mere modest disgust)...

[hodge-podge]

Jamie,

I was wondering if you had a link to the Sunday Times and AA Gill. For some reason I can never find his rants. Like you, I just want to get a good laugh on sunday morning.

Cheers

[jamiemaw]

Jamie,

I was wondering if you had a link to the Sunday Times and AA Gill.  For some reason I can never find his rants.  Like you, I just want to get a good laugh on sunday morning.

Cheers

←

If you try to go straight in from Canada, you will be asked to pay a large subscription. So best to circumvent and use Yahoo UK and search for 'Sunday Times', then 'food and drink'. This LINK should take you that far. Then simply search for AA Gill on the site, or read Giles Coren and some of their other food and drink writers. Cumbersome journey, but worth the struggle. This week Gill, coincident to this thread, talks about metaphor and simile in food writing!

Cheers,

Jamie

[hodge-podge]

fantastic, manythanks!

[canucklehead]

I guess from my rant about Angela's last reviews - I had some pretty strong thoughts about the nature of reviews.

At the end of the day - though the whole metaphor vs adjective formula is important in making the writing compelling and there are many threads that can and should be pulled in - there needs to be a grounding. The writing should be about the food and it should be responsible.

Not to stoke the fires any further - I have always liked Jamie's reviews because they are entertaining and fun, but they are grounded in a knowlegde about the business, food, and wine. I used to worry about whether or not he should be an anonymous diner - but we already have the Province doing that - and one is enough in this city.

A case study of Jamie's writing was in his review that covered Lift, Wine Bar @ Fiction, and Henry's Kitchen. Jamie put each restaurant under the light of dreams vs economics but underscored his piece by finishing with a review of Henry's Kitchen, - which was all about the sheer joy of cooking and the great neighbourhood restaurant that everyone wishes was in their 'hood.

Quite frankly the piece worked on all levels, metaphor, a lesson in darwinian economics, a study of social dynamics, and - most importanly an informed piece about good food.

That is why when restaurant reviews are bad - they are terrible. The latest Georgia Straight piece came off as snobby and so 'sex and the city' wanna be - when I am sure that was the opposite of what Angela's intentions were (plus - irresponsble). James Barber in his pared down state in Vanmag is now very enjoyable to read - because it is solely about food (no more clunky strained metaphors - yeah!).

Anyways - egullet is my main source of info now. I owe the scary but delicous experience of horse to you all. I am forever indebted.

[jamiemaw]

I guess what I'm getting at is that the food should be the starting point. A restaurant reviewer on egullet has as much (if not more) responsibility to understand the political economy of food than a simple print journalist. . . .

That, to me, is what a food critic must do. Pull together all the gossamer threads of culture, consumption and cruelty and make sense of it for the ready masses. What will a fleeting gustatory event reveal to the masses? Nothing. But that which can become internalized by way of ingestion, integration and explication can become elucidatory in a way which becomes deeper than simple taste/digestion. We are all eating our way through our lives by a complex interaction, and the realization of this fact and its corresponding charge is what our food critics must realize.

pass the hooch,

Q.

←

Yes. As I said upthread, privatejet, often the business of proforma restaurant reviewing is widely separated from the enterprise of food writing. Personally, I think it's useful to have at least a fundamental understanding of how the business is meant to work (it's the first thing I attack at UBC) and also, by throwing issues into a broader context (increasingly, about sustainabilty and environmental responsibility) that it can improve the discussion.

As regards the economics of the business side, I'll never forget asking a restaurant/food writer at a newish boite what he thought the food costs might be running at.

What are 'food costs?' he asked.

Edited April 10, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[tokyogurumegal]

As I was sipping my coffee this morning reading the NY Times Book Review, I came across the review for Ruth Reichl's new book Garlic and Sapphires. It's an interesting article to read after participating in this forum just yesterday!

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/books/re...html?oref=login

[SushiCat]

Adding another good source - industry insdiers. I find that I trust the recommendations from certain wait-staff, bartenders etc. It is a little like e-gullet - you get to know what people like/dislike and can discern from their comments if you think you would like the same place.

[jamiemaw]

As I was sipping my coffee this morning reading the NY Times Book Review, I came across the review for Ruth Reichl's new book Garlic and Sapphires.  It's an interesting article to read after participating in this forum just yesterday!

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/10/books/re...html?oref=login

←

Barbara-jo received her shipment yesterday. The other recently published book germane to this topic is Eating My Words by Mimi Sheraton, who also reviewed for the Times. Bryan Miller, the wonderful food and cookbook author who helped put Vancouver on the map in the early 90s, filled the position for a decade. He, I'm sure (given the vitriol Reichl levels at him) will get to go last.

Take Garlic and Sapphires with more than a grain of salt; not unlike the disguises that Reichl effects, some of its characters and even meals are made-up fabrications too.

Here's the discussion on another thread.

[canucklehead]

Clearly a repeat - but I just saw Mr Maw in action on 'Chef at Large' on Food Network tonight. Dude - that safari suit rocks.

Very interesting seeing the whole reviewing process - with the then newly opened Bis Mereno going under the magnifying glass. Both the reviewer and the chef take the process very seriously. Also interesting to see how Jamie monitors the room to ensure that he is not given special treatment.

Watching Chef Miotto's nervousness and reaction to Jamie's first review was more real and compelling than a year's of 'Fear Factor'.

[BCinBC]

I also caught last night's Chef at Large co-starring Mr Maw and Chef Moreno. In addition to learning a little about Moreno himself and his kitchen (I did not know they were all so young!), I agree the focus on the review process was (for me) very informative. The way he surveys the room for service, the timing aspect, the conditions of the premises, the first dinner's review to the chef... interesting process. Also the image of Jamie tapping away at his laptop at 8 words per minute will be the one I forever associate with his posts on eGullet.

[Oyster Guy]

I also tend not to pay too much attention to local food reviewers (Oh God, I hope saying this doesn't get me a bad review )

I will, however, pay attention to people who are in the industry whenever they have something to say about a particular place.

I tend to trust these people more as I have talked to people who hated working at a place but still said that the food was incredible and worth checking out even though they were no longer working there.

And the fact that they work in this industry and are naturally a little more learned at what really happens behind the scenes gives more weight to their opinions of a place to me.

I think my general inattention to local food reviewers comes from having lived in Toronto and having been subjected to the likes of Joanne Kates.

This woman is opinionated beyond belief and I used to dread seeing her walk in the door at any establishment I worked at.

She always mentions it whenever she gets attitude from a server but fails to mention that she would always provoke it with her own bad attitude. Her writing always comes off sounding condescending, not surprisingly because she is very condescending when dealing with servers, so why not her readers as well.

I am not saying all food reviewers are horrible people like her but because of my experience with these kinds of reviewers, it unfortunately affects how seriously I take their opinions.

I would like to see ex-chefs and servers doing reviews but that is just my opinion of things.

I do like Jamie's writing style though.......

Oyster Guy

[jamiemaw]

I think my general inattention to local food reviewers comes from having lived in Toronto and having been subjected to the likes of Joanne Kates.

This woman is opinionated beyond belief and I used to dread seeing her walk in the door at any establishment I worked at.

She always mentions it whenever she gets attitude from a server but  fails to mention that she would always provoke it with her own bad attitude. Her writing always comes off sounding condescending, not surprisingly because she is very condescending when dealing with servers, so why not her readers as well.

I am not saying all food reviewers are horrible people like her but because of my experience with these kinds of reviewers, it unfortunately affects how seriously I take their opinions.

Oyster Guy

←

I agree with you, OG. Whenever I'm in Toronto restaurants I make a point of introducing myself as Joanne Kates.

Seriously, I think that she sets herself up for the fall--sort of a professional victim. And her notion of anonymity is laughable--just look for the broad in the bad hat.

Enjoying your posts and opinions,

Jamie

Edited April 12, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)