PrintMimi Sheraton on Chodorow VS Bruni
We mentioned last week that restauranteur Jeffrey Chodorow declared war on the New York Times food section after their food critic Frank Bruni panned Chodorow's new steakhouse Kobe Club and gave it a starless review; former NYT and Time Magazine food critic Mimi Sheraton recently weighed in on the debacle for Slate:
Chodorow, of course, was an idiot to have run such an ad. For one thing, it does worlds of good for the critic, indicating he or she has a strong following, and that his or her words can make or break a dining place—in itself a measure of proven dependability. Chodorow questions Bruni's credentials, but one might also ask: What qualifies Chodorow to be a restaurateur? Simply having eaten out a lot since childhood, as he explains on his new blog, doesn't quite do it. Considering his hit-or-miss record—with disastrous results at the defunct Rocco's, Caviar, and Banana, and two previous incarnations of Mix in New York, yet his successful results at China Grill, Asia de Cuba, and Ono (despite lackluster food)—one might well question his erratic judgment.
Oh snap!
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3 Comments:
Taking out a $100,000 ad to offset what a reviewer has written is a waste of money.....he should be putting it into making the restaurant better.....he sounds like a jerk......and I wouldn't eat there if it was free....
galaxypark83 at 6:24PM on 02/26/07
I just enjoyed reading the Chodorow letter for its many editorial ellipticisms. Does anyone in his camp read this stuff before saying it's a go? Keep on churning out the paper, Jeffrey.
Sandro at 11:16AM on 02/27/07
I make no beefs (ha) about it I think Jeffrey is a drama queen. I also think hell would freeze over before I would ever, ever, ever eat at one of his restaurants. Steven Starr was restauranteur of the year last year and he has gone from Philly to NY. Jeffrey is crying because he's not the big man anymore. I am not crazy about hearing someone spend 100,000 on an ad to rebut a critic. It just seems wasteful.
I didn't care for the show the restaurant. I don't care for Rocco either. Deep frying meatballs made me cringe.
I digress, Jeffrey is a cry baby. Someone give him a tissue.
JerzeeTomato at 8:44AM on 03/01/07