Lauren Chapin - Kansas City Star Restaurant Critic

[ulterior epicure]

Aaron - welcome to KC!! Thanks for the post - I need to read her review rightaway. Stick around, I think you'll like us KC'ers on eG!

u.e.

P.S. monkfish's resto is SORedux.

Edited September 14, 2006 by ulterior epicure (log)

[Aaron Deacon]

P.S. monkfish's resto is SORedux.

Thanks, that was what I thought, until I saw that the SORedux chef had posted a "question" on Chapin's Q&A. I like the idea Freedom Gras, though.

[chicagowench]

Welcome to the KC area, Aaron!

I am curious as well as to why she only tried...the steak. Especially when a restaurant has such a limited menu, it seems even more important to sample as much of it as possible.

[ulterior epicure]

Welcome to the KC area, Aaron!

I am curious as well as to why she only tried...the steak.  Especially when a restaurant has such a limited menu, it seems even more important to sample as much of it as possible.

←

... and I'm wondering on what basis she gets to review a restaurant after two visits? I don't think she went more than twice based on the article... AND both times steak.

u.e.

[ronnie_suburban]

A quick welcome to Aaron whose posts at LTH I have I always enjoyed. Now, back to the topic at hand, please.

=R=

[moosnsqrl]

Yes, welcome, Aaron. Sorry I wasn't there to greet you when you arrived

Back on topic (since Ronnie seems determined to try and herd cats ). . .

We all seem to share disappointment, dismay and dissatisfaction with the quality and consistency of the reviewing. May I suggest contacting the Readers' Representative with specific, concrete examples and concerns? I have corresponded a bit with the editor of Preview but I think it might be more effective to step outside of that editorial 'vertical' and draw-in a more neutral third party. I would particularly encourage those who are recently relocated to KC - it's been a decade since I lived outside The Star's territory and, although I read other critics online, it's not quite the same as having reliable, trustworthy reviews where you live. It seems Aaron, in particular, who just arrived and may want some guidance to KC restaurants, has a legitimate concern to take to them.

KC Star's Readers' Representative

[monkfish_103]

Yes, welcome, Aaron.  Sorry I wasn't there to greet you when you arrived

Back on topic (since Ronnie seems determined to try and herd cats ). . .

We all seem to share disappointment, dismay and dissatisfaction with the quality and consistency of the reviewing.  May I suggest contacting the Readers' Representative with specific, concrete examples and concerns?  I have corresponded a bit with the editor of Preview but I think it might be more effective to step outside of that editorial 'vertical' and draw-in a more neutral third party.  I would particularly encourage those who are recently relocated to KC - it's been a decade since I lived outside The Star's territory and, although I read other critics online, it's not quite the same as having reliable, trustworthy reviews where you live.  It seems Aaron, in particular, who just arrived and may want some guidance to KC restaurants, has a legitimate concern to take to them.

KC Star's Readers' Representative

←

I would hate to be a food critic and thank god I'm not! My hate mail would be tripple as what it is now already. A critic is just an opion it's not a grade that remains on your tombstone it's not life or death.

The critic at the pitch is a joke, I've known him 12 years or so, Judy loves him cause he tosses her name around on the hotdog and chili show on 89.3 that show is a total waste of radio waves. The KC mag food critic is a really jacked she came into my restaurant and professed she was a vegan and turns around and proclaims Ruth Chris has the best steak in the city(on that same hot dog show) she so bad the editor of KC mag won't let her do the hot dog show any more, she does it now. I think maybe Katie is so stuck on herself and wants to be someone that why she does the show also. Chris at Ingrams is a very sweet lady but I wouldn't let her decide where I should dine at. The KCstar has issues also, I know if some one served me a piece of shoe leather I wouldn't give them 3.5 stars, but she takes alot into thought when she reviews.

Some of the best critics are bloggers, but most of them don't know sweet breads from pastries.

But hey look at us on this site do we have such a lowly life that this is our hobby? Or we have to swoop down on a restaurant and "take one for the gang" hmmmm....I think we should keep all the critics we deserve them!

[David Crum]

Yes, welcome, Aaron.  Sorry I wasn't there to greet you when you arrived

Back on topic (since Ronnie seems determined to try and herd cats ). . .

We all seem to share disappointment, dismay and dissatisfaction with the quality and consistency of the reviewing.  May I suggest contacting the Readers' Representative with specific, concrete examples and concerns?  I have corresponded a bit with the editor of Preview but I think it might be more effective to step outside of that editorial 'vertical' and draw-in a more neutral third party.  I would particularly encourage those who are recently relocated to KC - it's been a decade since I lived outside The Star's territory and, although I read other critics online, it's not quite the same as having reliable, trustworthy reviews where you live.  It seems Aaron, in particular, who just arrived and may want some guidance to KC restaurants, has a legitimate concern to take to them.

KC Star's Readers' Representative

←

I would hate to be a food critic and thank god I'm not! My hate mail would be tripple as what it is now already. A critic is just an opion it's not a grade that remains on your tombstone it's not life or death.

The critic at the pitch is a joke, I've known him 12 years or so, Judy loves him cause he tosses her name around on the hotdog and chili show on 89.3 that show is a total waste of radio waves. The KC mag food critic is a really jacked she came into my restaurant and professed she was a vegan and turns around and proclaims Ruth Chris has the best steak in the city(on that same hot dog show) she so bad the editor of KC mag won't let her do the hot dog show any more, she does it now. I think maybe Katie is so stuck on herself and wants to be someone that why she does the show also. Chris at Ingrams is a very sweet lady but I wouldn't let her decide where I should dine at. The KCstar has issues also, I know if some one served me a piece of shoe leather I wouldn't give them 3.5 stars, but she takes alot into thought when she reviews.

Some of the best critics are bloggers, but most of them don't know sweet breads from pastries.

But hey look at us on this site do we have such a lowly life that this is our hobby? Or we have to swoop down on a restaurant and "take one for the gang" hmmmm....I think we should keep all the critics we deserve them!

←

I would very much like to know which critics opinions do you respect? (be they professional, blogger, local or national)

Dave

[moosnsqrl]

Judy loves him cause he tosses her name around

I have never met, nor spoken to Charles Ferruzza in my life, nor have I ever heard my name mentioned on the show. Curious where you got those ideas?

The KCstar has issues also, I know if some one served me a piece of shoe leather I wouldn't give them 3.5 stars, but she takes alot into thought when she reviews.

I don't understand how you reconcile these two points but if you're willing to overlook 3.5-star shoe leather and still give her props for thoughtfulness, so be it.

I think, if you will re-read (or perhaps read for the first time) my post, you will see that I encourage citing specific examples of the inconsistencies, etc as discussed upthread in the interest of improving the reviews. There are more productive ways to express yourself than ad hominem attacks and it seems more genuine to direct our concerns to the publication - as I have regarding other sections of the paper, not just restaurant reviews - that is, in fact, what the Reader's Representative is for.

[monkfish_103]

[monkfish_103]

[

Edited September 15, 2006 by monkfish_103 (log)

[Zeemanb]

I don't have any respect for anyone that makes a name or a living off of other peoples passions, Blogger, local or national.

←

Don't chefs make their living off of the passions of others? If "passion" was really the only driving factor, why would they open a restaurant at all?

Everyone that pays attention to any food write up is a sap, they are unable of thinking and making jugdement calls for themselves.

←

So what are the alternatives for finding out about different restaurants, styles of cuisine, etc., if it were not for someone ELSE writing about it? Word of mouth only? Leave it to deep pocketed advertisers to let you know whose food is the best?

Is anyone who dines at your restaurant because of Chapin's or Ferruza's reviews a sap?

[monkfish_103]

I don't have any respect for anyone that makes a name or a living off of other peoples passions, Blogger, local or national.

←

Don't chefs make their living off of the passions of others? If "passion" was really the only driving factor, why would they open a restaurant at all?

Everyone that pays attention to any food write up is a sap, they are unable of thinking and making jugdement calls for themselves.

←

So what are the alternatives for finding out about different restaurants, styles of cuisine, etc., if it were not for someone ELSE writing about it? Word of mouth only? Leave it to deep pocketed advertisers to let you know whose food is the best?

Is anyone who dines at your restaurant because of Chapin's or Ferruza's reviews a sap?

←

Gee gosh Jerry I don't know why Why did I work for free for a year in restaurants? I opened my restaurant for me not for every sap out there looking for a new place to open up and run just to be seen. That's why I don't give any choices on the menu, that's why I tell veggie heads to go away. That's why I advertise in a gay publication because I want open minded customers, that's why I don't take walkins. That's why I don't offer a food menu in my wine lounge because I don't need miss fathead hanging around just waiting to be seen.

Anyone that stickly goes by what the write ups say is a sap and I don't want them here. So If that's the only reason they came then they are saps, and I could care less.

[Zeemanb]

Gee gosh Jerry I don't know why Why did I work for free for a year in restaurants? I opened my restaurant for me not for every sap out there looking for a new place to open up and run just to be seen. That's why I don't give any choices on the menu, that's why I tell veggie heads to go away. That's why I advertise in a gay publication because I want open minded customers, that's why I don't take walkins. That's why I don't offer a food menu in my wine lounge because I don't need miss fathead hanging around just waiting to be seen.

Anyone that stickly goes by what the write ups say is a sap and I don't want them here. So If that's the only reason they came then they are saps, and I could care less.

←

It sounds like you make some very broad, general assumptions about the ignorance of diners in general, which you are totally within your rights to do. You're in the business, I'm sure you've come up against the worst types of customers imaginable, AND you have your soup nazi schtick to protect.

However, if you truly believe or live by what you say.....why do you REALLY keep the Star rating on your website? Is the tourist trade it provides really preferable to all the other types of diners you mention? If your bread and butter comes from advertising in alternative periodicals and keeping things on more of a grassroots level, it seems like it would make more sense to mention what they have to say on your site. Just curious. On one hand it you make it sound like EVERYONE who dines because of a review or blog is a sap, then you change it to say anyone who lives and dies by them is a sap.....you hammer the local critics, but then you keep their stars on your website.

Seems kind of inconsistent, but then again I'm not overly bright.

[monkfish_103]

The main reason it is on my site is because when I working for two chicago chefs they made the statement in the kitchen to cooks and to other people that wanted to open up restaurants that chefs from Kansas City couldn't cook and not to waste your time with them. The last two places to recive a four star rating from the star were both mine. Only two restaurants in town have a current four star rating mine and Le fou frog. So it's my way of saying stick it up your sardine. I was with Le Fou Frog both times when Mano was awarded four stars.

[chicagowench]

The main reason it is on my site is because when I working for two chicago chefs they made the statement in the kitchen to cooks and to other people that wanted to open up restaurants that chefs from Kansas City couldn't cook and not to waste your time with them.  The last two places to recive a four star rating from the star were both mine. Only two restaurants in town have a current four star rating mine and Le fou frog. So it's my way of saying stick it up your sardine. I was with Le Fou Frog both times when Mano was awarded four stars.

←

Might as well take it down, then, as it's now sullied and tainted by the presence of 3 other restaurants in the 4 star category. 40 Sardines, Cafe Sebastienne, and the American, when one searches the KC Star site for 4 star reviews.

[David Crum]

Just to clarify, currently Le Fou Frog and SO redux are the only restaurants with 4 star reviews, The American, 40 Sardines and Cafe Sebastian have had 4 stars in the past but no longer do.

Dave

[chicagowench]

Granted. However, since part of what we've been discussing is- as Pete posits it- the mindless slavish devotion to critics and what saps people are for listening to them, it does bear notice that if you simply do a search via the Star's restaurant page under '4 stars', those 5 spit out. Regardless of whether they currently hold it or not. (Which is yet another reason why the Star needs to be smacked). It's why I was careful to point out how it comes up when you search.

[David Crum]

  The last two places to recive a four star rating from the star were both mine.

←

I would also venture to guess that this is why when bashing local and national reviewers, critics and publications it is why you handle Lauren Chapin and The Star with kid gloves, you know, don't bite the hand that feeds and all that.

Dave

[moosnsqrl]

Now I should run so I can go freeze some beef scraps then slice them waffer thin and call them something fancy in Italian. Cause all my customers are dummer than a box of rocks.

←

Wow, I never really wanted to eat there before but now I feel curiously drawn to.

[monkfish_103]

Now I should run so I can go freeze some beef scraps then slice them waffer thin and call them something fancy in Italian. Cause all my customers are dummer than a box of rocks.

←

Wow, I never really wanted to eat there before but now I feel curiously drawn to.

←

Since learning you were a flexatian until about a month ago(couldn't tell by some of your post detailing meat dishes you enjoyed at other places) this fake beef dish I was rattling off about isn't on my menu. should be up your alley! Cause it's fake. As in fake vegan I knew there was a reason I never put any merit into any of your weekly post.

[ChefCAG]

Now I should run so I can go freeze some beef scraps then slice them waffer thin and call them something fancy in Italian. Cause all my customers are dummer than a box of rocks.

←

Wow, I never really wanted to eat there before but now I feel curiously drawn to.

←

Since learning you were a flexatian until about a month ago(couldn't tell by some of your post detailing meat dishes you enjoyed at other places) this fake beef dish I was rattling off about isn't on my menu. should be up your alley! Cause it's fake. As in fake vegan I knew there was a reason I never put any merit into any of your weekly post.

←

At least its Waygu...You know, not that cheap select stuff from CostCo

[monkfish_103]

Now I should run so I can go freeze some beef scraps then slice them waffer thin and call them something fancy in Italian. Cause all my customers are dummer than a box of rocks.

←

Wow, I never really wanted to eat there before but now I feel curiously drawn to.

←

Since learning you were a flexatian until about a month ago(couldn't tell by some of your post detailing meat dishes you enjoyed at other places) this fake beef dish I was rattling off about isn't on my menu. should be up your alley! Cause it's fake. As in fake vegan I knew there was a reason I never put any merit into any of your weekly post.

←

At least its Waygu...You know, not that cheap select stuff from CostCo

←

If costco sold it I'd be using it! Wait I should call my grass fed beef from New Zealand Waygu. The grass fed is cheaper than costco beef. So I'll just get my cheese from Costco. I'm trying to hook up my fish guy in Hawaii with costco so I can get it cheaper also. My costco card is black and my Sam's wholesale card is blue

[monkfish_103]

Now I should run so I can go freeze some beef scraps then slice them waffer thin and call them something fancy in Italian. Cause all my customers are dummer than a box of rocks.

←

Wow, I never really wanted to eat there before but now I feel curiously drawn to.

←

Since learning you were a flexatian until about a month ago(couldn't tell by some of your post detailing meat dishes you enjoyed at other places) this fake beef dish I was rattling off about isn't on my menu. should be up your alley! Cause it's fake. As in fake vegan I knew there was a reason I never put any merit into any of your weekly post.

←

At least its Waygu...You know, not that cheap select stuff from CostCo

←

I wonder if I just started to send pics of my food to costco nonstop they would put me in their newsletter, I know this works for fish companies

[David Crum]

I seriously do not understand what anyone is talking about here anymore. I know I had a hand in leading things off topic and for that I apologize, but could we please return to the issue at hand.

Dave

(BTW the issue is Lauren Chapin, lest we've forgotten)