Joshua Gillin
Apr. 9, 2013
12:03 pm
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Jeff Sonderman
Dec. 5, 2012
12:47 pm
The New York Times
"And I thought
I had a lot of questions about Guy Fieri," Times restaurant critic Pete Wells writes.
Wells stirred up a storm with his nothing-but-questions, scathing
review of Guy Fieri's Times Square restaurant, and readers responded with their own questions for Wells in a Q&A on the Times' website.
"How, with so many great restaurants in the city, that one made the list of spots to review"? ... "Did editors ask you to tone things down, or does the final product represent most of what you initially penned?" ... Wasn't this "little more than an exercise of shooting fish in a barrel"?
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Mallary Jean Tenore
Nov. 14, 2012
12:22 pm
After he visited
Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square, Pete Wells wanted to know why the Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders were so far from awesome, and why the bourbon butter crunch chips were missing from his Almond Joy cocktail.
The New York Times restaurant critic did, decidedly, have more questions than answers. So instead of taking a traditional approach to his
much-talked-about review,
he wrote the whole thing as a series of questions.
“I really did have a lot of questions; there was so much about the restaurant that I couldn’t figure out,” Wells said by phone. “When I sat down to think about how I was going to approach the review, I just started going over the things I couldn’t understand and the things that seemed so strange to me. They really started to add up to the point where I thought, boy, I really could just keep going with this.”
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Craig Silverman
June 18, 2012
3:11 pm
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Craig Silverman
June 18, 2012
2:02 pm
Today’s useful reminder to always double-check that people are still employed in the position you think they are comes from the food critic of the Sacramento Bee.
Blair Anthony Robertson’s recent review of Silva’s Sheldon Inn included a reference to … Read more
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Jeff Sonderman
Apr. 11, 2012
12:17 pm
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Julie Moos
Oct. 10, 2011
12:25 pm
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Jim Romenesko
Aug. 1, 2011
11:53 am
Washington City Paper
The Association of Food Journalists' current guidelines say “reviewers should wait at least one month after the restaurant starts serving before visiting." Chris Shott notes that the AFJ’s guidelines haven’t changed since they were first written about 10 years ago -- before the rise of TV chefs, social media or food blogs, which often post sneak-peak photos of restaurant interiors and full menus. "Long gone are the days when a restaurant didn’t see a packed house until a newspaper chimed in."
Given that many professional food critics used to see themselves as the paid protectors of said diners—zealously guarding their culinary dollar against mediocre food and subpar service—are those who still follow the traditional timetable essentially fighting with one fork tied behind their backs?
AFJ executive director Carol DeMasters says her organization has asked the same question. “This will be a topic at the Association of Food Journalists
annual conference in Charleston in October."
Description of AFJ's Restaurant Critic Panel scheduled for October 7:
Restaurant criticism revisited. We will discuss the ins and outs of restaurant criticism for today's media environment. Who is reviewing? What are they bringing to the table? We'll consider the new wave of restaurant coverage, starring a cohort of experienced restaurant critics — both staffers and freelancers. How do we work with and manage a small army of critics/writers/bloggers providing restaurant coverage for our wide world of publications? And how do we, as critics and publications, retain our authority and reputation?
> Earlier: Six journalists share their views on today's food writing
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Jim Romenesko
May 27, 2011
12:04 pm
American Journalism Review |
Poynter.org
When he became Associated Press food editor six years ago,
J.M. Hirsch was surprised that there were no guidelines for commonly used food terms. He was trying to find a spelling for bok choy, the white-stemmed Chinese cabbage, only to find that there were five or six to choose from. So he started keeping a list of terms he had looked up, and the spellings he used, to stay consistent from week to week. Earlier this month,
the AP added a 16-page food section to its Stylebook.
Jeffrey Benzing writes:
Food writers looking for guidelines previously had to go with their gut ―and still will for thousands of food terms that didn't make the cut. But the addition of a food section now gives writers a place to turn for a quick reference. Hirsch says this is useful for general assignment writers who might not have a background in food―and it's also useful for food bloggers looking to post professional quality writing.
>
JMHirsch.com: "Originally, I was just aiming to make my life easier"
>
Interview with J.M. Hirsch -- AP's food editor and a dad who cooks
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Jim Romenesko
May 27, 2011
9:34 am
Romenesko Misc.
The Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post are competing for Best Newspaper Food Coverage in the large circulation category. There are 54 contest finalists in 15 categories. Winners will be named at the Association of Food Journalists Awards Competition banquet in Charleston, SC, on Oct. 6.
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The latest edition of Swallow Magazine, a rarely published food periodical founded in 2009, features a novel way to experience the smells of Mexico City's culinary scene: Scratch and sniff stickers.
Maria Newman writes on the New York Times' Diner's Journal blog that the new issue, the title's third in four years, will contain 20 stickers that use the familiar microencapsulation technique to stimulate readers' olfactory senses. Editor James Casey decided to use the work of Sissel Tolaas, a Norwegian "odor artist" who re-created the smells of 200 Mexico City neighborhoods.
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