Restaurant Reviewing

I Met a Yelp Elite Reviewer and He Changed My Mind

February 6, 2018 by diannejacob 6 Comments

Image for post on Yelp Elite Reviewer I was prepared to not like him. After all, Yelp restaurant reviewers singlehandedly ended the careers of many restaurant reviewers by writing for free, right? That’s what a friend said, who was once a professional critic.

And what did this guy know about writing a good review, I wondered? Not to mention, who gets to be Elite and what does that mean? A free meal?

To find out, I called Chris Sladky, 29, a Yelp Elite reviewer and software product manager, to interview him. Then he suggested meeting him for lunch. I had not [Read more…] about I Met a Yelp Elite Reviewer and He Changed My Mind

Former Restaurant Reviewer Says Reviews are Irrelevant

May 30, 2017 by diannejacob 2 Comments

Todd Kliman doesn’t miss being a restaurant reviewer.

“It becomes tiresome after a while to eat lavish food,” he explains. “No matter where you go, everything’s plated the same way and it starts feeling like you’re in this very strange little bubble. You’re [Read more…] about Former Restaurant Reviewer Says Reviews are Irrelevant

“Memoir Has to Risk Something,” says John Birdsall

August 30, 2016 by diannejacob 18 Comments

Food writer John Birdsall has won two James Beard Foundation awards for intensely personal essays.

A few years ago, I went outside my comfort zone. I contacted a stranger and asked to meet.

The stranger was John Birdsall, now a double James-Beard winning writer and essayist. At that time he was a restaurant reviewer for a local newspaper here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I loved his restaurant reviews.

John has since moved on to narrative non-fiction or personal essays, often about the intersection of gay culture and food. I know he’s already won awards and was published in prestigious places, but I feel like he’s just getting started and has so much more to offer us.

Here’s his take on restaurant writing, personal essay writing, and taking risks. He also has good insights about his former writing and the role of an editor. I asked him to write his answers (rather than me interviewing him), so you can get a sense of his style:

Q. How does your background as a restaurant and catering cook influence your food writing? Do you believe that people who write about food should have professional experience or culinary training?

A. For a long time I didn’t think it did: Cooking seemed a prelude disconnected from [Read more…] about “Memoir Has to Risk Something,” says John Birdsall

What Happened When I Approached Jonathan Gold

April 12, 2016 by diannejacob 41 Comments

Scott Warner snapped this shot of me and the affable Jonathan Gold, restaurant critic of the Los Angeles Times, as our talk began.

When I walked up, Jonathan Gold stood talking with a small group of food writers. It was after his keynote presentation at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) annual conference in Hollywood, CA, and I was late for a session. I didn’t care. One of my food writing idols seemed to be available in the cavernous ballroom.

How often does that happen? At IACP, quite often. If you’ve been to their conferences, you probably remember when Julia Child and Jaques Pepin [Read more…] about What Happened When I Approached Jonathan Gold

“Blogger Blackmail” Surfaces as a Trend

August 25, 2015 by diannejacob 91 Comments

What is “blogger blackmail?” One blogger demanded about $150 worth of macarons, marshmallows, and other goodies in exchange for a blog post.

How ironic. Last week I wrote a post defending hobby bloggers. This week the subject is “blogger blackmail!”

By now you may have heard about the Twitter thread called #bloggerblackmail. It chronicles, among other things, when food bloggers demand payment in kind for blog posts, including free meals at nice restaurants.

One story that came to a head began when a hobby blogger who writes London restaurant write-ups emailed a bakery and suggested she be “invited to review” their products in exchange for a blog post.

Here’s how things went downhill for the food blogger:

When she got to the bakery, workers offered her tea and [Read more…] about “Blogger Blackmail” Surfaces as a Trend

Are Restaurant Bloggers Still Relevant?

May 13, 2014 by diannejacob 52 Comments

I know restaurant bloggers still exist, but I can barely find them.

I’m not the only one. The annual Saveur Best Food Blog awards doesn’t even list “restaurant blogs” as a category.

Sure, there are people who write reviews for websites such as Tasting Table and urbanspoon.com. But it seems that there are [Read more…] about Are Restaurant Bloggers Still Relevant?

Cooking Informs Writing, But Storytelling is King, says Award-Winning Critic Jonathan Kauffman

February 6, 2012 by diannejacob 51 Comments

Critic Jonathan Kauffman's huge brain let him store info about dining without taking any notes. (Photo courtesy smokedsalmon, FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)

Ever had dinner with a restaurant reviewer? Usually I’ve been on the other side, so when I got the invitation I jumped at the chance to see a multiple-award winning writer and critic in action.

Jonathan Kauffman, restaurant reviewer for San Francisco Weekly, invited my husband and me to dinner at AQ, a sleek new restaurant serving what Trendologist Kara Neilsen calls “modern cuisine meets foraging.” Jonathan and I had exchanged tweets and emails, but had never met.

I began the evening with a faux pas. Jonathan had made a reservation in a false name, which I forgot and said his name when I introduced him to my spouse. We looked around to see if anyone noticed, but no one seemed to care. He also had a credit card in a false name.

Professional critics have to be careful about being recognized. Jonathan says he manages his online presence to ensure there are no photos of him online. (I checked and he’s right: you can’t find his face in an image search. Strangely, there are lots of photos of [Read more…] about Cooking Informs Writing, But Storytelling is King, says Award-Winning Critic Jonathan Kauffman