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The Ten Most Recent Comments By Tamara

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

I don't see how anybody's feelings about Plotnicki personally have anything to do with the validity of the guide. The guide's ratings are not based on his own opinions of the places included. If people don't like him, that's their business - but it's important to separate out the guide from the man. I'm sure some people hate Tim and Nina Zagat too, but that really doesn't have anything to do with their guide. If a restaurant in Chicago (or elsewhere) didn't make the cut - it's because it didn't. To take that personally or to somehow link that with Plotnicki's personality is just silly.

Tamara at 9:34AM on 03/20/08

Responses to Comments by Tamara

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

Great article! If you're looking for good restaurants in the area check out www.foodjoker.com. Great selection of places to eat and great site. Available also in 8 languages.

Leo11111 at 3:07PM on 03/25/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

Finally - I don't disagree with Steve about everything. We agree about Mr. Bruni. I dined at Michael's Genuine in Miami this week - Mr. Bruni's 4th or 5th best new restaurant of the year. Left me scratching my head. It's not a bad place - it's quite ok. But almost the best new restaurant in the US? Was about on a par - give or take a bit - with Bistro Aix here in Jacksonville FL (near where I live) - which serves similar food. Bistro Aix is a great Jacksonville restaurant - but I don't think anyone would confuse it with one of the best restaurants in the country. RobynG

RobynG at 12:21AM on 03/25/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

Regarding rating restaurants - I personally did not rate any restaurant I haven't dined at within the last 3 years or so. What's the point of rating my meal at Troisgros when I dined there 20 years ago? FWIW - we were never told that our ratings would be weighted by the number of places we reviewed. If that were the case - I could have rated dozens. But again - what would be the point of rating a place where I dined from the 1970's through the 1990's? RobynG

RobynG at 12:12AM on 03/25/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

The simple fact of the matter is that out of these 900 participants - a sufficient number hadn't dined at Dieter Muller or Vendome in Germany (both 3 star Michelin) to warrant inclusion in the guide. I fought hard to get them included - even if I was the only participant who had dined there - but I lost. So DM and Vendome are excluded - and Joe's Stone Crabs is in. RobynG

RobynG at 12:02AM on 03/25/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

I would have to disagree with lostfourwords and say that Steve is a critic in the idealistic sense of the term, to the readers of his guide. He makes it clear that his goal is to get you the restaurants "A" game. If this is truly what he intends, then who better to provide reviews than a man renowned for getting the best out of restaurants. After reading his tips, he would expect you to get the best out of each restaurant, and he would therefore be the ideal critic, in the sense that you are now receiving the restaurant's "A" game, as well as him (like an ideal critic, he is reviewing what you are getting)

That said, I would much rather read a guide such as this, presided over by one such as Steve, over the Zagat guide.
Have you ever read those?
They're so boring!
I'm not planning however, on buying any of these guides. The blog posts are much more interesting.

nicknormile at 12:26AM on 03/21/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

"And in the rating system you use, their opinions wouldn't carry a lot of weight because they can't rate as many restaurants as others do."

But I just posted a list of people, some of whom make quite modest incomes, who rated more restaurants than people who have significant wealth.

Steve Plotnicki at 11:19PM on 03/20/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

This argument reminds me of my love-hate relationship with OAD: I enjoy living vicariously through SP's adventures with his Black Card, but he's no critic (in the idealistic sense of the term); and I certainly can't fathom how he could or would objectively collect and synthesize the opinions of others. That doesn't seem to be the strength of his blog--I mean, who was asking for this? Really. He was supposed to be Alan Richman--minus the ability to write in grammatically correct sentences--not Tim Zagat.

lostfourwords at 11:04PM on 03/20/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

"While some of the people on the list are high income earners, there are also those who do not make a lot of money but who save in order to take two or three trips a year for the purpose of dining." And in the rating system you use, their opinions wouldn't carry a lot of weight because they can't rate as many restaurants as others do. There may be merits to the system you've come up with, but it does inherently favor the opinions of wealthy people who can afford to eat regularly at expensive restaurants, and it seems to me that the resulting guide is also aimed at them, for better or for worse.

Julia Thiel at 6:59PM on 03/20/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

Well your prior post made a snarky comment saying that it should be called, "The Rich New Yorker's Guide to Dining in the U.S. and Europe." Your last post tones that rhetoric down quite a bit which I appreciate. As to who actually practices this hobby, I took a look at the list of our top weighted participants which included exactly two wealthy businessmen from NYC (me included LOL.) Others professions on the list were:

Human resources manager in London
Project manager at a financial printing company in London
Investment banker in London
retired architect NYC and Paris
young attorney in NYC
professor in N. Cal
psychologist in NYC
professor in Chicago
Nuclear Arms expert in Wash DC
Political writer in London
Accounting clerk in London
eBay seller from Canada
Fashion model from Paris
Actuary from California
Housewife from California
Computer consultant from London
Computer executive from Northern Cal.

While some of the people on the list are high income earners, there are also those who do not make a lot of money but who save in order to take two or three trips a year for the purpose of dining. You have also twisted around a comment of mine when you said,

"And while experience with fine dining might be necessary to be an authority on high-end restaurants, I'm not convinced that experience alone necessarily makes one an expert."

Nowhere have I made that claim. What I have said is that experience is a fundamental component of being an expert on any topic, and by offering a blended opinion of people who might qualify to be experts, the results are more reliable than other guides on the market.


Steve Plotnicki at 6:16PM on 03/20/08

From Serious Eats

Early Returns on New Dining Survey Not So Favorable

I have, in fact, read the book (not cover to cover, but I've looked at it pretty closely), and if you can point out any inaccurate statements I've made I'll be happy to correct them. Out of the top 50 North American restaurants in the book, 32 are either in California or New York state, 15 of them in NYC. Seven are located somewhere besides the east or west coast, two of those in the midwest.

As far my notion of who the book is directed at, it's taken directly from the cover, which says it's "the ultimate guide for destination diners." In your intro, you define this as "someone who plans weekends and vacation travel around dining out." I didn't say there's anything wrong with that--it makes sense to me, actually--but it does take money, especially to eat at the kinds of places listed in the guide. And while experience with fine dining might be necessary to be an authority on high-end restaurants, I'm not convinced that experience alone necessarily makes one an expert.

Julia Thiel at 4:35PM on 03/20/08