Gill Review of the Week

[*Deborah*]

Link

I really don't have much of an opinion of the Library Square pub: a quick Irish coffee after work one day, without whipped cream--"I think they ran out" said the server--but this is quite a bloomer of a typo on somebody's part:

The Library Square is, after all, really just an upscale pub. Operated by Donnelly Hospitality, owners of Bimini's and the Denman Street Free House, the restaurant has taken on the daunting task of catering to an eclectic crowd of gentile culture vultures and rowdy sports fans. Can the two co-exist on a diet of salmon salads, burgers and Stella Artois?

(I'm guessing the word wanted was genteel, not shiksa )

There's also a rather egregious "crème brule". Someone at the Globe was up too late drowning their sorrows about the Leafs' loss, perhaps.

At least Ms. Gill has nice things to say about Cassis, which is still on my "to try" list.

[barolo]

Hmmm.... there's also:

"Our palettes are tantalized"

and

"Let's the sports fans eat fries."

[*Deborah*]

Palate/Pallet/Palette are a pretty misused bunch of near-homophones, it's true.

Right up there.

Oh dear.

[BCinBC]

Well the paragraph about the waitress' uniforms failed to coagulate into a comprehendible mental image. As such, with my interest piqued, I may have to check it out for myself one day.

[nwyles]

I will not comment on the spelling or grammer.

Cuz, I doan spel sew gud mysefl.

But the whole thing left me wondering which place was the focal point of the article.

Was it a sideways shot at a pub withing throwing distance of the hockey arena or praise upon the french bistro. It would appear both lived up to expectations. No news there.

[Andrew Morrison]

I don't speak for any other critic in the city, but I want to take the opportunity to say thank you for not considering our work to be "thread-worthy".

[*Deborah*]

I don't speak for any other critic in the city, but I want to take the opportunity to say thank you for not considering our work to be "thread-worthy". 

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We always seem to end up talking about her anyways...

And I am *not* blaming her for the errors, they could be anyone's!

[jamiemaw]

I don't speak for any other critic in the city, but I want to take the opportunity to say thank you for not considering our work to be "thread-worthy". 

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I feel equally threadbare.

[canucklehead]

Okay - just read the review for Wink in the Globe. It is not a nice review - but hey - its her M.O. - it makes for a quick read - so whatever.

My question is this. Accompanying the article is a nicely lit (possibly staged) picture, so I am assuming that the restaurant participated in the photo shoot. Is this standard practice? To give a poor review but then have a picture staged at the scene of the crime?

I don't think Wink would have allowed a photo to be taken and published if they knew that the accompanying text would be so negative. Seems like a mean trick to play - and adding salt to the wound.

[Ling]

^I've always assumed that the photos were taken after the reviewer has dined at the restaurant and written the review, but before the review is actually published.

[Andrew Morrison]

My question is this. Accompanying the article is a nicely lit (possibly staged) picture, so I am assuming that the restaurant participated in the photo shoot. Is this standard practice? To give a poor review but then have a picture staged at the scene of the crime?

I don't think Wink would have allowed a photo to be taken and published if they knew that the accompanying text would be so negative. Seems like a mean trick to play - and adding salt to the wound.

When I do I review for the WE, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, I have to arrange for the staff photographer to come down and take some shots a few days later.

"Hi this is Andrew Morrison calling. I'm reviewing your restaurant for next week's issue, and was wondering when it would be a good time to send our photographer down?"

"Is it a good review?"

"You'll have to wait until Thursday, I'm afraid."

It's awkward at best, but there it is. I doubt Ms. Gill has to personally arrange for her photography, but if she does it's likely she follows a similar path.

[Zucchini Mama]

After this review, she's starting to get on my tits. I mean a food writer who doesn't know the basics about how wine is made--What is the point?

Zuke

[canucklehead]

Andrew

Thanks for the scoop - I was just curious how these things work out. Especially in this case where the review was quite negative - yet there is a huge color picture accompanying the article.

You are right - and I can see that an extra layer of malice was not intended - but it does up the 'awkward' quotient. Better you than me making those phone calls.

Edited November 12, 2005 by canucklehead (log)

[kontemporary]

After this review, she's starting to get on my tits. I mean a food writer who doesn't know the basics about how wine is made--What is the point?

Zuke

←

I find her latest article to have the same condescending tone as her review for DIVA at the Met, where she brought her other friend as well.

EDIT: Also for those wishing to read the article (sans picture): Click Here

Edited November 12, 2005 by kontemporary (log)

[kurtisk]

fyi, for those who are curious about the 'vegan wine' mentioned in the article, i'm assuming that the wine hasn't been through 'fining' which involves filtering out sediment via egg whites.

andrew, shall we just start a 'schadenfraude' thread?

k.

[barolo]

Isinglass, made from the air bladders of fish, is also used in fining.

[kurtisk]

Isinglass, made from the air bladders of fish, is also used in fining.

←

Thanks! I guess I missed that day!

k

[Vancouver Lee]

I've been biting my tongue for a couple of weeks now, but after reading the Giller's latest review I can no longer keep silent.

What is with this woman? That was the most inane "review" (and I use the term very loosely) I've ever read. 3/4 blog, 1/4 review. After reading it, I know a lot more about her friend from up north than I do about Wink.

Based on her writing, Ms. Gill reminds me of that type of person who is so insecure about themselves that they need to insult everything and everyone they come across. I suppose growing up in Etobicoke will do that to you. Then again, what can you expect from the paper that also provide a weekly column to Leah McLaren?

Has anyone here eaten at Wink? I'd like to hear some actual opinions, hold the condescension.

[gingerfreak]

I've never eaten at Wink, but her review, negative though it is, doesn't exactly leave me thinking I should avoid the place. Her credibility is shot, with me at least. If she ever raved about something, I doubt if I'd be inclined to try it either. At first I thought Gill's reviews were kind of cheeky and at least interesting, but I've lost patience and interest. Not only does she seem to lack food knowledge, she doesn't seem to know much about her friend's preferences either.

I find the egullet post-discussion much more informative and useful!

[*Deborah*]

Urgh. Yet more proof that I am not the editor of The Globe and Mail's food columns or West Coast page or whatever it is.

They should just call her column "SNAP"

ETA that she obviously doesn't read the Gullet as much as I do: I learned that factlet about isinglass some time ago.

Oh, and Ms. Gill: honey is not considered vegan by people in Vancouver. Not sure what Yukon food snobs think of it though.

Edited November 12, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[Chef Metcalf]

Oh, and Ms. Gill: honey is not considered vegan by people in Vancouver. Not sure what Yukon food snobs think of it though.

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Nice lob to the other court *Deborah*.

[MightyMrQ]

I eat at Wink a couple of times a week. Lurking there, as is my nature.

It is what it is, a decent little hipster-neighbourhood vegetarian spot with the cutest girl ever (Sarah) working the counter. It's pretty simple. You go to the counter, you point at what you want to eat, you pay for it (Interac, fortunately for Ms. Gill, is within arm's reach), and Sarah brings it to you when it's ready. She perhaps has more enthusiasm than culinary training, but what the hell. A chickpea salad, soup or grilled sandwich with a happy planet juice doesn't need a red seal or sommelier's ticket. They do their biggest sales on Sunday night when improv comedy takes over the stage/dining dais. The food is a bit hit and miss, but for six bucks, it's better than the wraps up the street and a good foil to budgie's colon blockers. Secret crushes on Sarah aside, I quite like the place.

This was just a stupid review. I don't know how she found Wink or what she thought the dining experience was going to be, but it's obvious she did little pre-visit research. It's like giving the family-run falafel place on Denman Street a bad review because your "snooty drunks club" buddy had to go to the counter to order mediocre wine. Are you kidding me?

Anyway, I hope this gets me Sarah's phone number...

Edited November 12, 2005 by MightyMrQ (log)

[MightyMrQ]

... Not sure what Yukon food snobs think of it though.

←

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Haines Junction, Yukon is home to the Raven Hotel, one of the 19 Where to Eat in Canada 3-star dining properties (among the likes of West, Lumiere, Susur, Toque, etc). Amazing meals in the land of the midnight sun.

[barolo]

Isinglass, made from the air bladders of fish, is also used in fining.

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Thanks! I guess I missed that day!

k

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You were probaby off drinking wine as remedial studies!

[*Deborah*]

... Not sure what Yukon food snobs think of it though.

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Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Haines Junction, Yukon is home to the Raven Hotel, one of the 19 Where to Eat in Canada 3-star dining properties (among the likes of West, Lumiere, Susur, Toque, etc). Amazing meals in the land of the midnight sun.

←

*smacks self on forehead*

You know, reading the article, I said to myself, Ah, NWT (didn't know about Haines Junction though, thanks!), and I still wrote Yukon.

It's the colour thing: Whitehorse, Yellowknife...I've only been to Whitehorse, I'm afraid. And I still get Hamilton and Homer mixed up, and I've lived two blocks away for like 4 years now. Sigh.

Apologies to Yukon non-food-snobs!