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Food Critics
Newspaper and magazine food critics are journalists who are just doing their job - writing about restaurants. Writing 1000 words about the details of meal week after week can be very repetitive, so most food writers write about other things and mention the food at the end. Adrian Gill (writing in The Sunday Times) usually spends two thirds of the article writing about something more interesting, and a third saying what he and 'The Blonde' ate and what they thought of it.
Diners who read a critics column do so with mild interest. Perhaps they pay a little more attention if they have eaten there themselves and want to see how two experiences of a restaurant match up, or maybe a friend who had eaten there has recommended it and the reader wants another opinion. Whatever the case, on the whole diners read restaurant reviews with only mild interest.
Restaurant owners and chefs however tend to pay a little more attention to reviews - afterall it's the business they are in perhaps it's even their own restaurant which is being reviewed. This leads to familiar complaints:
'Critic X doesn't know what he/she is talking about.' Almost always heard after a bad review of a restaurant in which the speaker has an interest.
'Critic X is a friend of Chef Y.' Usually indicates a good review of a rivals restaurant.
'Critic X never writes about the food' As touched on earlier, but could also be translated as 'That was my best effort and he/she thought nothing of it'
There's a great deal said about food critics, most of it nonsense, but what power do they really have? Do reviews make a difference?
The truth about critics and their power over the success and failure of a restaurant may be summed up thus. A good review won't make people go to a bad restaurant, but a good review will make more people go to a good one.
So who are the critics? Who do they work for? What do they look like?
The short answer is guides, newspapers and magazines, and online reviews of course. A more detailed look would be worthwhile, and we will add to this section over time.
A Guide To The Guides
The Good Food Guide. A splendid guide, highly recommended, written in plain English. The contributors are regular diners who send in reports. The present editor is Jim Ainsworth.
The Michelin Guide. Very useful for finding out who has got a Michelin Star and propping up wonky tables.
Time Out. There's a certain honesty about Time Out which is very encouraging. Usually gets it right.
Hardens
Zagat
The Daily National Broadsheets
The Times
The Guardian
The Daily Telegraph
The Independent
The Financial Times
The Sunday Broadsheets
The Sunday Times
The Observer
The Independent on Sunday
The Sunday Business
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