Critic Anonymity a Thing of the Past? Most Likely, Yes
So says Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson, who once served as that paper's lead critic. Even though she got busted plenty of times, she says, "you'd be surprised how many restaurant folks failed to recognize me when I showed up."
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And critics - at least all the ones we know - can tell when they've been recognized. It's amazing that it never occurs to servers that we hear from our friends and acquaintances their tales of woe or wonder or that we're watching how they treat other tables when we're eating out.
The fact is that in most cities the restaurant critics don't have the clout that the New York ones, particularly from the NY Times, do. At least in the negative sense. When Mr. Meatloaf was at our daily paper and reviewed a mom-n-pop, he'd always have a clerk call and warn them that a review was coming and they might want to prepare for more business. He admits that he wouldn't write a review of such a place at all if it was awful. "They'll go down soon enough without me," he said.
lemons at 11:37AM on 08/11/09