Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Yes, its good to see him come of age in the 21st century. I wonder if he would take questions?

I Just wanted to tell you how much I love your website, the critic system is having its revolution and it's healthy to see that kind of counter power emerge.
I read the article in the WSJ about the bloggers getting comped by some restauranteurs, in this article the Zagat people were saying that they are able to find out about those restaurants who ask their employees to vote for them. But to be totally fair don't you think they should do the same the other way too? let me explain, imagine some one wanting to harm a restauranteur because he's a direct competitor or he screwed his wife, or for any other reason. The guy asks a bunch of his friends to put bad reviews on Citysearch or to vote against him in the Zagat just to harm the guy, don't you think it can happen too?
My point is that it's time to demonstrate the unfairness of those kind of guides who just put up a computer system that uses and compiles the reviews they get on line and throw up a rating without doing their job to go and check the fairness by themselves. We all know the Zagat is filled with incoherences and still be (partially) responsibles for undeserved successes and failures.

Keep up with the good job !

me3dia,

yes, i read it. in fact, let's revisit verbatim what the WSJ said about Batali:

"For Mario Batali, the tipping point was an article on Eater about a dispute between him and one of his restaurant's landlords. In response, he wrote an article for the site titled, "Why I Hate Food Bloggers," in which he decried blogs as bastions of "untruths, lies and malicious and personally driven dreck."

My whole point was that ppl are quick to bag on bloggers, case in point Batali. Really, I doubt Batali hates bloggers. Did I read his post on Eater when it first came out? Yes. I even commented on that post on Eater.

To answer your question. Yes. I read the WSJ article. Yes. I read Batali's post on Eater. What is it that you wanted to address about that?

Mat Shaffer broke the Zagat story in the Boston Herald and was nominated for, but did not win, a Beard Award for it. I think the Boston survey has since sharpened its pencils. Ruth Tobias is now the local editor, and she is a peach.

Chowhound, IMHO as they like to write, varies widely from market to market - much like the dining audience.

That's quite a story about zagat, zapatista. Serious Eats should gather all the questionable Zagat dealings in a single post. We would of course call the Zagats and ask for a comment on each of them.

I would never comp a meal to a serious restaurant reviewer. Nor would I send out an extra course or offer any other special treatment. Sure there are tiny neighborhood publications who publish what are basically promo pieces written by hobbyist reviewers who do get their meals comped, but I don't think most people really take them too seriously.

In Boston there are 2 critics who are fairly well known among chefs and restaurateurs. Sadly they make their presence known, whether by flamboyance or simply announcing themselves. They've both come into my restaurant and I've sent nothing to either one. The other serious reviewers - we have maybe three more - I wouldn't recognize. They, too, have been in, but I still couldn't pick them out of a lineup.

Online reviews are different and generally shouldn't be trusted. There are many shills posting positive reviews and many competitors posting negatively. Zagat, I think, is okay, but certainly not perfect. Several years ago in Boston, Zagat came out with diner quotes and restaurant ratings for a restaurant that wouldn't even open for six more months.