Food critics blamed for French chef's death

[rah]

Originally posted by TheStinger
TO be fair millions of ordinary French workers face
reviews as well and don't kill themselves

Point taken. I just used the US as an example because I'm more familiar with the process here. You never know if annual reviews effect salary in EVERY country, for all I know it's different in China or other non-capitalistic countries. But in general I assume you're are correct.

RAH

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by rah


Point taken. I just used the US as an example because I'm more familiar with the process here. You never know if annual reviews effect salary in EVERY country, for all I know it's different in China or other non-capitalistic countries. But in general I assume you're are correct.

RAH

Fair enough, I guess the Chinese review you on your ability to quote Mao or something

[Alex]

Originally posted by MarkG

But I'm usually spanked for saying those things to her.

so you do it on purpose?

I forget that I should not say it at all, because I was used to tell it to my mother but she did not beat me because of that... But I solved this problem not going home for lunch anymore.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by TheStinger
He was clearly a mad ponce, he cooked food for gods sake. If he had lost a star it wouldn't have made it a bad restaurant.

No, it'd have been the same restaurant, just financially devastated.

[rah]

Just how much would the devastation be. I decide if I'm going to repeat visit a resturant by my last few experiences. A review would only come into play when deciding if I should go to a rest. that I hadn't been to before, and opinions by friends would weigh as more important. So unless this place is a tourist trap, I doubt a rating decrease would have THAT MUCH impact. And who knows, the increased publicity might even drive more business from people that knew it might be wrong.

[DaShi]

Cooking was his life. Losing a star is like losing a limb. Some people can't cope with that.

[rah]

Then I can repeat. "He's to blame", not the media.

[monkspider]

This is sad.
May he master his cooking skills in the next life.

[monolith94]

"Just how much would the devastation be. I decide if I'm going to repeat visit a resturant by my last few experiences. "
We're talking the top restaraunts in the world, Rah - not applebees...
The quality and preparation of food is so much more to the French than it is to us; don't think it's really fair to compare the two cultures.

[rah]

I've eaten at many supposed "world class" resturants. Most were overrated, (usually the French ones). Personal experience, or recommendations from friends, is always the preferred method. Just because the experience costs upwards to a grand, doesn't make it a good resturant.

[Spiffor]

I have eaten in several top-class restaurants. Never twice in each. I don't know what your budget is, RAH, but if you can come back to a top-notch and top price restaurant several times (i.e according to your past experience), you are very well off
Generally speaking, the bulk of their clients are one time clients who are looking for the best of the best (tourists, food-fanatics, or people celebrating a very special occasion)

Yes, it was his fault for shooting himself, and I suppose the Gault-Millaut had good reasons to rate him 17 rather than previous 19. He was rumored to be on the downward slope for some years now anyways.
However, you should not underestimate the impact of these food guides in the business of high-quality restaurants. Going to a 300 € restaurant is not the same as going to Tino's pizzeria because you liked it the previous week.

[rah]

That's my point. If I'm spending big bucks on a meal, I'm not going to rely on what a reviewer says. I can never be sure what their motivation was. Heck a buddy of mine rated golf courses for a major sports magazine. He's shows up at the resort with some friends, and is treated like a king and sometimes women were included in the treatment. And the next week, surprise surprise, the resort would be written up as a 5 star golf resort. GIVE ME A BREAK. While most reviews may be legit, a considerable number are not. It's impossible to know in advance if a review was influenced. Heck, when I worked for a motor club, our ratings of hotels, resorts and resturants were based somewhat on how much business they were doing with us.

SO, I repeat, the more I'm going to spend on a meal, the more important that the decision is made based on previous experience or recommendation from a friend that I respect.

[Spiffor]

I understand your point, but when you're tempted by a rumored excellent restaurant (expensive as hell as well), where you or your friends never, went, on what will you judge if it's worth it or not ?

Many clients of top-notch restaurants are in this situation, and have to rely on sources from the milieu; guides being the most important ones.

Edit : BTW, I highly doubt restaurant reviewing by the 2 big guides have anything in common with the experiences you cited. These guides take all their profits from their sales (1 new edition per year), and are very structurated. They held their reputation and seriousness very dear, because their sales -their money- are dependant from the percieved honesty in the public.
Granted, I never worked for such a guide, but they are alledged to instruct their reviewers to act the most "client-like" as possible, and not to be detected as reviewers by the restaurants. In these very organized guides, one could easily get fired if he gives too high marks to a restaurant which provided him special attention like those who cited.
So far, no major scandal has stained these 2 guides, even though such a scnadal would sell many newspapers. I guess their notation for restaurants is almost always honest, especially for the biggest ones in the house.

[rah]

But what if the reviewer has an ax to grind? It could never be proven. I'm not saying saying they are not honest, I just don't put a lot of faith in them. The only thing I look for is the difference between the top and bottom rating, (for hotel's only) so I don't end up in any fleabag places. If a place is listed 5 stars, (or the equivalent top rating) even if they're spoofing, it's at least no worse than an average one.

As for your first example, I just wait for a client to ask me out and then if the food/service sucks, it didn't cost me anything. I go to a lot of excellent resturants, I never said I paid all the time.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by rah
As for your first example, I just wait for a client to ask me out and then if the food/service sucks, it didn't cost me anything. I go to a lot of excellent resturants, I never said I paid all the time.

That's a good method It never occured to me