It should be no surprise that this article caught my eye. Yesterday, CNN posted an article that discusses restaurant critics and their desire to remain anonymous. Though I’m a blogger, not a critic, I found this an interesting read. The article talks about the use of fictitious names, costumes, and a slew of other techniques employed to fly under the radar. The general premise is that these tactics are used so that the critic can have an experience that mimics what others are likely to enjoy (or not enjoy as the case may be).
I think you’ll find the little bit on Frank Bruni and Sam Sifton, the now former and current New York Times restaurant critic respectively, an interesting watch. When you’re done with that, go have a look at the article.
Maybe one day I’ll elaborate on my thoughts regarding this matter, but in the meantime … feel free to discuss on here. BTW, Bruni just released a book. Entitled Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater
That is why I love reading sites like FourSquare and Yelp to see what’s going on. Not that I discredit the work and opinions of a fully-fledged “food critic” (I do read this blog after-all), but knowing how the normal-everyday-person gets treated in places definitely speaks to what level of consistency to expect from a restaurant.
In an age where everybody gives their opinion on Yelp/FourSquare/Twitter/Facebook any time they feel compelled the benefit is great; everybody has a stage to be a critic.