
How the New York Times critic writes the reviews that make and break restaurants - taylorbuley
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/12/pete-wells-the-new-york-times-restaurant-critic
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TheLarch
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, fashion is so ugly it has to be replaced every six
months. Though the Metropolitan Museum may be my favorite place on earth, I
find a good portion of NYC to be repugnant. Nowhere have I seen such spineless
obedience to trends and fashions. Many residents seemingly can't put on a tee
shirt without worrying over it endlessly, and express a self-congratulatory
air when they've gotten that tee shirt just right. They are delighted to wait
for 1.5 hours to get a burrito because it's the right burrito, and the right
line to be in to buy one.

Hearing this guy say "my body is not my own" made me twitch and I had to stop.

The difference between them and rabid football fans is a matter of degree, not
quality.

~~~
daughart
Is your position that "food critic" is not a legitimate job, or that there is
no value in NYT restaurant reviews?

Once you admit there is, then by definition someone's job involves a lot of
eating. I think that's pretty much all he meant by saying that his body is not
his own. If anything, the better comparison is with football PLAYERS, who also
make bodily sacrifices in the practice of their chosen profession.

~~~
TheLarch
Experience proves that food critic is a legitimate job, and sure there's
economic value in restaurant review. However in my utopia it would be a low-
key affair. Zeal for watching men play a game or eating seems debased to me.

The remark about "my body is not my own" seemed unduly melodramatic.

([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d053pPV_AA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d053pPV_AA))

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tastyfishy
It's interesting that the NY times critics wield so much power with the chefs
and NY public (and maybe even american public), when there are plenty of
review systems (michelin, pellegrino) that are more worldly and forward
looking. IMO, New York high end cuisine has always been more about hedge fund
people and old money impressing each other with higher spend, rather than
better food. Maybe that's why there's an aggressive restaurant review culture
that serves well to these aggressive customers (born out of finance).

IMO bay area fine dining cuisine is #1 in the nation right now (NY might have
even be #3, had Chicago not have some unfortunate chef deaths in the last few
years)

If you look at new york times's 4 star restaurants list:

Le Bernardin/Jean Georges (old french cuisine, tons of sauces, boring)

Per Se << French Laundry

Del Posto (mario battali's strong/strange flavors are either love/hate) Quince
(sf) is much more consistent and tasty.

Sushi nakazawa - very good nigiri, but lacks decent cooked seafood. Yoshizumi
(sf) is much better in both nigiri/cooked food, taste great, is cheaper, and
the place has a great minimalistic japanese feel.

And there's no direct answer from NY to Benu (out of this world Chinese),
atellier crenn (if she only did desserts for all courses), saison (highly
innovative), californios, mourad

SF might be in top five cities in the world right now for great food (low end
and high end)

~~~
dmode
Loved your list. Though, I thought Benu was more Asian fusion rather than
Chinese.

~~~
weeks
Benu considers themselves to be New/Contemporary American and I have it on
good authority would be highly amused by the accusation of being "out of this
world Chinese" or even Asian Fusion. :)

~~~
dmode
Ok, contemporary American it is. TBH, I only read about these restaurants and
think about them. Cannot justify spending that much money on a meal, knowing
that people where I could grew up will survive the whole year with that kind
of money

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danso
My journalism law teacher worked at a regional paper and being the food critic
was the job where she had the most direct influence on people's lives. If she
wrote a positive review, she'd call the restaurant before the paper went to
print to advise them to stock up. Negative reviews frequently meant that a
place would shut down in the next few months. After one particular negative
review, someone shot out her living room window with a shotgun.

I imagine most regional papers today, if they even have a food critic,
probably don't wield that much influence what with Yelp. I figure a good
review by the NYT will cause a restaurant to skyrocket in popularity. I don't
know how busy Dirt Candy was before its 2-star review (it's mentioned in the
OP and was the first vegetarian restaurant to get 2-stars in some 10+ years),
but I remember it being booked for months. I had to walk by it every night
just to check if they had a cancellation to get in before I moved out of New
York. But even if the NYT doesn't weigh in, there are so many blogs that cover
the food scene in New York that there are plenty of ways to build buzz.

(I still used Yelp to find most gems when I lived in New York though)

~~~
flashman
A service with check-in data could probably quantify the uplift of a
favourable review, by looking at the number of patrons before and after
publication.

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syllogism
The NY Times probably would be uniquely influential for fine-dining because
it's likely one of the few sources of shared information.

If you invite someone to an expensive restaurant that's just had a bad review,
your invitation must mean either cluelessness or defiance. If you don't mean
either of those two things, you should not choose that restaurant.

You can't "opt out" of this system. It doesn't matter whether you believe the
reviews are accurate. It doesn't matter whether you believe _the other party_
believes the reviews are accurate. Because the review constitutes shared
information, the logic of pluralistic ignorance applies. It's not clever to
ignore shared information. It just leads you to communicate badly.

~~~
Retric
A huge swath of people ignore reviews by never reading them. They are only
important because of how tight restaurants margins are so even a 5% dip is
important.

~~~
rasz_pl
> tight restaurants margins

WAT????

~~~
treehau5
Not sure if trolling or... but restaurant margins are paper-thin. For example,
my father, a restaurant owner for 35 years _lost_ money on most of his
offerings (the exceptions being the cheap stuff - chicken fingers, fries,
hushpuppies, etc). Almost all profits were made off soft drinks. If people all
of a sudden stopped ordering tea, coffee and soda, he would have gone out of
business in under a week. This was true in all different venues he operated --
a sandwich shop, an upscale steakhouse, and the ever popular "fish camp" style
of restaurant. The only exception was his pizza restaurant -- and he only made
money when people ordered plain pepperoni pizza. Ironically, if they only
ordered cheese, you had to put more cheese on the pizza to make up for the
lost space the pepperoni took up, and cheese is the most expensive thing in a
pizza restaurant by far, especially if you use anything that is remotely real.

~~~
Paul_S
Why not price items accurately rather than relying on the deception of cheap
food and expensive drinks? Wouldn't that make every item profitable?

Reminds me of how UK banks have no charges and just hope you make a mistake so
they can earn money off you.

~~~
sliverstorm
Market price/expectation. Everybody else does it, so you have to too, unless
you can move $23 ordinary chicken sandwiches.

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wallace_f
It is amazing to me that people care so much about what other people think;
they want to be told what they should and should not like.

There is some truth that having more practice with fine dining aids in better
distinguishing flavours and textures, but most of it has to do with practice
in identifying what Other Important People Tell You are desirable qualities.
For example, in identifying fine wine, the average, untrained population
cannot, study after study has shown, discriminate. One study(1) even showed
that perceived quality and neurological response could be manipulated by
simply mislabelling bottle price, regardless of actual price.

Should you like or dislike food because of what someone else told you to
think? Maybe being told what to think is a sign of inept judgement and a lack
of resolve--a different interpretation of having a "sophisticated palate."

Besides, different qualities--textures being particularly notable--can be
desirable in one culture and entirely undesirable in another.

My advice: Just enjoy what you like and explore whichever foods you so desire.
Take time to really absorb the quality of the food, and try out reasonably
priced family owned restaurants. Stop reading the NYT to tell you what to
think.

Particularly ridiculous addendum: This critic ordered, in the review in
question, gluten free noodles even though less than 1% of the world's
population has Celiac disease. If I went to work and addressed the problem I
was given by tailoring it to 1% of my clients, I would be fired for being an
idiot. Probably you would, too.

1) [https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/baba-shiv-how-wines-
pr...](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/baba-shiv-how-wines-price-tag-
affect-its-taste)

~~~
zippergz
> It is amazing to me that people care so much about what other people think;
> they want to be told what they should and should not like.

This is an amazingly uncharitable read on the reason that food critics exist.
How about this version? There are thousands upon thousands of restaurants in
NYC. Constantly opening and closing. No human in the world has time to try
them all, and going to one that sucks is a wasted opportunity. So having
outside sources to turn you on to good places is really valuable. If you find
a restaurant critic whose taste you agree with, taking his or her
recommendations can drastically improve your ratio of good to bad meals.

It's no different than looking at reviews when going to a movie. If there are
15 movies playing, I'm a fool for reading reviews to help me decide what to
watch? I suppose I should just try them all and then decide for myself what I
like, rather than "being told what I should and should not like"?

~~~
yodsanklai
> There are thousands upon thousands of restaurants in NYC. Constantly opening
> and closing. No human in the world has time to try them all

If you restrict yourself to a particular area, a price range, a type of food,
there are already many less options (even in NYC). You can also make a good
opinion just by looking at the place from the outside. Personally, I much
prefer to find some good place to eat by myself rather than go to the same
place as everybody else just because it has a good review.

For movies, it's not different. You can tell from the genre, the director, the
actors and so on if you may like this movie or not.

~~~
CarpetBench

      > You can also make a good opinion just by looking at the place from the outside.
    

Ehh, isn't this textbook "judging a book by its cover"? It tells you nothing
about the quality of the food, service, etc. unless you waste a bunch of time
scouting out the restaurant.

    
    
      > Personally, I much prefer to find some good place to eat by myself rather than 
      > go to the same place as everybody else just because it has a good review.
    

That's cool, and I don't think you're alone in that. Much of the time though,
I don't want to experiment. It feels bad to waste money on a restaurant I
don't like. It feels even worse to tell a place their food is so bad that I'd
like a refund. There's no winning scenario for me in that instance.

Worse than just being a bad outing, it's an opportunity cost: I have $X and Y
hours to spend eating out. Because I wasted an evening at Thai Noodle Place
#3, I didn't get to eat at Ethiopian Restaurant #2 that's supposed to be
incredible. Especially in NYC, it's not a given that said Ethiopian restaurant
will be around next week.

Wasting money and/or time on an awful meal is much less likely if I'm going to
a place with good reviews. Still possible, of course, but less likely.

    
    
      > For movies, it's not different. You can tell from the genre, the director, 
      > the actors and so on if you may like this movie or not.
    

Except in this instance you probably don't know the director, the actors, or
even the synopsis. You're seeing the movie solely based on the genre, the
title, and who else is in line for the movie. Not a strategy I would
consistently recommend.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Lots of strategies for choosing from large sets. One friend tries dishes at a
restaurant until she finds one she really likes, then sticks with that ever
after.

I've read a better algorithm: look until you find an acceptable choice, then
reject it and keep looking. When you find a _better_ option, keep it. Works
for shoes, cars, spouses etc. Might work for restaurants. The statistics say
it should usually move you 1 std dev above where you would have been.

------
treehau5
The whole first 3 paragraphs almost describes an intricate dance of
restaurants having to keep up with the Times to recognize these reviewers, and
the reviewers disguising themselves to get a more authentic experience.

It is sort of like driving -- the best way to avoid a speeding ticket is not
by having a keen eye, understanding the cop shifts and hiding spots, and when
its "quota" time, the best way to avoid a ticket is to just always drive
safely. Then you don't even have to worry about being pulled over.

Similarly, the best way to avoid having a bad review from a fancy columnist,
is to just always treat every customer as if they are special, and not have to
catch yourself up in the worry of always looking out for the right people. My
father was a restauranteur for 35 years, and myself for 8, I found that even
if you don't get it right the first time, if the service is exceptional and
you build a rapport with your clientele, you will be given a chance to make it
right. Focus your efforts on the important things.

------
tmaly
This is one of the reasons I started my food side project
[https://bestfoodnearme.com](https://bestfoodnearme.com) the idea is to give
you a list of amazing food dishes close by, so you can quickly figure out what
to eat without reading reviews. I personally find it difficult to find new
places to try especially when traveling. Reviews can be biased in many ways
especially from competitors or dishonest restaurants. Some sites give you the
feeling that the reviews are a payola type situation.

I hate spending any time reading them. I just want a list of great dishes.

------
zappo2938
I worked as a cook in fine dining, the two and three Michelin star level, for
eleven years. Outside of being awarded Michelin stars, it's a myth that
reviews have any noticeable influence on a restaurant. Never once have I ever
experienced a rush of new customers after a review in the SF Weekly or the LA
Times.

------
Steko
The HN retitling of articles is really starting to jump the shark.

------
london888
I forget how important eating out can be, especially in the US.

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Vera527
This is a freaking book, not an article. Who has time to read all of this?

------
rdslw
This is about people who think everybody thinks about them and cares. Nope.
And wrong.

Explained here why:
[http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html)

And the ones who do, do because of prestige, biases, and inability to
understand they were being manipulated (into liking/not liking sth). Not to
mention, that statistical difference between all this life important eating
out, is not worth your attention.

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skilled
Does this guy ever review a place that would be affordable for the average --
middle class -- human being, because it is hard to see how the middle class
people would care about restaurant reviews on such a vast scale when
everyone's struggling to make the ends meet in the first place.

~~~
sbuccini
The article mentions that there are two different columns in the _Times_. Pete
Wells only reviews the fancier restaurants, and it's one of the reasons that a
"Fair" review won't even get you one star in his column. Another columnist is
responsible for establishments targeted more at "everyday" Americans.

The article further states that Wells is actually uncomfortable with this
dichotomy and has been throughout his duration at the _Times._

~~~
neilc
> Pete Wells only reviews the fancier restaurants

This is not true; in fact, Wells is somewhat famous for reviewing more blue-
collar restaurants, in contrast with previous Times critics. For example, here
is his review of Guy Fieri's restaurant in Times Square:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-
review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html)

~~~
casion
$11 for french fries, $19 hamburger is considered blue-collar?

I assume this is a new york thing?

~~~
neilc
Sure: something can be both overpriced and blue-collar. Think of the food you
get at a typical football stadium, for example.

