In a follow-up to the heated post last week, Michael Peel, owner of WineBurgers in Tierra Verde sent me this letter. Although some of it I very strongly disagree with, I think he has some worthwhile points. I'll paste his thoughts below:
I have been in the restaurant business for forty years and owned my own restaurants for thirty and I ask: Do we really need restaurant critics? We don’t have critics for banks or car dealerships or insurance companies or mortgage brokers or real estate offices and they impact our lives a lot more than where we’re going to have lunch today or dinner tonight.
Someone has determined that we need restaurant critics so they are a part of the business and when you go into this crazy business you know that and you have to accept it. A lot of restaurant owners and chefs go by the theory that it’s like teaching – If you can’t do, you teach. – If you can’t cook or run a restaurant, you critique. If they have to be critiqued, they would rather be critiqued by Janet Keeler, who actually cooks than by Ms. Reiley, who doesn’t. Now don’t get me wrong. I think Ms. Reiley and her predecessor Mr. Chris Sherman certainly know restaurants, quality food and write eloquently about them. Some of the others in town, like the guy over at Creative Loafing seem to enjoy just being vicious. When you look at the judging tables of such popular shows as Top Chef, Chopped and The Next Iron Chef you can see that they are convinced being vicious is what sells and they are probably right. I guess it is only human nature to enjoy watching someone else squirm when they are ridiculed. But when it comes down to some small independent restaurateur, who works 16 –18 hour days so that they can pay their mortgage, car payment, insurance, taxes and everything else, is it really necessary? I know a lot of people work hard in their businesses, but if you know anything about the real restaurant business, you know these people work in an especially hard environment for a lot of hours each and every day. The idea that these people walk in the door at 5:00 and open up and start making money is ludicrous.
Shouldn’t these people be allotted the same courtesy we extend to just about every other business? Let them win or lose each and every night with the person that sits down in the chair, eats the food, and pays for it with their hard earned money. The National Restaurant Association has conducted a number of studies that all conclude one thing. The most effective advertising for a restaurant is word of mouth. And it works both ways. It can be good or bad. So, do we really need restaurant critics? Have we forgotten how to think for ourselves? Do we really need someone to tell us what is good or bad about something as basic as our food? Don’t we know when we like something?
I guess the answer to those questions is no because we have restaurant critics. So why can’t they be like the ones they use to have at Gourmet Magazine? Gourmet used to do reviews of three restaurants in New York and three in California every month. The reviewers would only review a restaurant if it were good. Because people run restaurants there were always one or two faults and they were graciously not viciously pointed out. These faults were discovered after four or five visits to the restaurant so as not to be prejudiced by an off night. We all know humans not robots run restaurants and humans can make mistakes. This is a civilized approach to restaurant critiques. In these current times I guess this is just not practical as evidenced by the demise of that great magazine.
Therefore we are left with a review that is usually written after one visit and doesn’t take into account that the chef might have just heard his wife has cancer and his mind is not one hundred percent on your plate. I use such a graphic example because a lot of these small independent restaurants are mom and pop operations. They don’t have a lot of cash to deflect a bad review with tons of advertising. Real people run them. This is their business, their livelihood, and their life.
In the forty years I have been in this business. I have never seen a harsher unforgiving economic climate than we have now. When a lot of restaurants are only a bad week away from closing their doors, do we really need restaurant critics? If we do, then along with the glory and prestige of being a “Restaurant Critic” they have to assume the responsibility. And saying I’m just doing my job is not enough. A review may not make or break a restaurant but every time they write a review they should keep in mind that it might be the one thing that that saves this restaurant or puts it on the path to closing its doors. You may not be pulling the trigger but you are certainly placing the bullet in the chamber.
If we must have restaurant critics, then please get out and support your favorite local small independent restaurant. If you don't no one else will. They need you and they might not be there next week when you need them.