LaBan's Reviews

[wkl]

Yesterdays Inqy had a review of The Chef's Table, here in the good old First State.

It's a good restaurant and if you are in the New Castle area it's well worth the visit.

In the margin Mr Laban also suggests ,Moro (with three bells) located in Wilmington. It has the note "revisited October 2005" attached.

I don't remember a recent write up, and the review on philly.com shows an April 2003 date. So how current is his rating of Moro, or any restaurant, listed like this?

Does "rervisited" just mean he's been there recently and his original rating still holds? Does it mean a review is coming soon? If a new review isn't in the works, and he was lowering or raising his rating would that be noted in the margin?

I know my fellow philly egulleters probably shrug when the dining scene in Wilmington is written up, but inquirering minds in the First State are wondering.

[philadining]

I've always assumed that a simple condensation of the review with a "revisited" indicates that he stands behind his original rating. I seem to recall seeing some note being made if a place got significantly better or worse, or if major changes happened in the kitchen. I do not recall if these notes are added to the original reviews archived on-line, or if they only appear in sidebars recommending similar, or nearby restaurants.

It's very unusual for LaBan to do a full second review of a place unless it's a pretty major destination AND has undergone some significant change, such as the re-opening of Bookbinder's. So I'd be very surprised to see an new review of Moro, regardless of its location.

Do you think that his review of Moro is still accurate?

Obviously it's an inherent problem with restaurant reviews, the entity is changing all the time, with churning in personnel, or the same people getting better or worse at what they do, menu evolution, concept shifts, etc. I'm not sure there's a perfect way to keep on top of that, but I do like those notes indicating that a reviewer has been there recently, so one can assume it's largely the same as when last described.

And then there's eGullet for up-to-the-minute updates!

[wkl]

"Do you think that his review of Moro is still accurate?"

No. If Chef's Table is two bells then Moro is two bells. I have been disappointed with two recent meals at Moro. When I saw the three bells next to the revisited date I was incredulous. That's why I posted the questions.

So does LaBan routinely revisit places just to see if a previous review is still accurate? If he was going to change the bells awarded, does he only do this in a new review? Have you ever noticed a "bell change" in the margin of another review?

[philadining]

I'm somewhat mystified by the review of The Chef's Table, there's no evidence of it on-line anywhere, and LaBan's reviews are usually up before now. Was it in the regular Images section of the print version, or was it in a regional section?

I'm feeling pretty confident of it not being on-line, because they do a pretty slick job of syndicating the dining section via RSS, and I don't see it showing up in any of the recent posts, not do I find it by clicking around their Dining pages.

Odd...

[Pensage]

Here it is:

http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/phil...&reviewId=18277

[philadining]

Here it is:

http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/phil...&reviewId=18277

←

Thanks!

Interestingly, as of tuesday afternoon, it's still not linked from the main dining page, or as the "Latest Review" on LaBan's page. Nor does it appear in their RSS feeds, either for LaBan's reviews or for the more general Dining category.

It's possible that they're holding these off for a few days on purpose, it may appear by thursday, when they usually send out a dining update email. They may be quite understandably trying to encourage people to buy the Sunday paper!

It just seems to me that in the past I've been able to find the week's review on-line by late sunday, early monday, linked from the obvious sources. It does show up in their search engine if you know what to search on...

[Alec Hart]

I can't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure that both Django and Standard Tap got an extra bell added after their initial review(s). I don't believe that Mr. LaBan re-reviewed either of them (although I could be wrong). I believe he just said something like "... because of excellence in resent visits I am addind a bell..." on the margin of another review.

I cannot remember a time when he removed a bell although I'm pretty sure he has.

--Alec

Edited November 23, 2005 by Alec Hart (log)