Restaurant Reviews
Like reviews of movies and the theater, people read dining reviews to help them decide whether or not to patronize a particular establishment. While the opinion of the reviewer is important, the reader wants to know not only the quality of the food but the type of food; the cost; whether reservations are necessary; the efficiency of the servers; and the ambience. Consequently, there is a good amount of information you must convey in writing a restaurant review.
Unlike most nonfiction genres, to write movie, theater, and food reviews, you are not required to have a degree or vocational experience to validate your authority — rather your reputation comes with experience. In many cases, an editor assigns a reporter the task of reviewing movies and not infrequently, this becomes the start of a career and a movie critic is born.
But despite the need to provide information, reviews are by nature a balance between subjectivity and objectivity, and one negative experience may impact the review. Is this appropriate? Is it ethical? That would depend upon whether or not the nature of the affront reflects upon the quality of the establishment.
Consider the case of the dining critic Craig LaBan who after a “pleasant first meal” returned to the restaurant for a second culinary encounter. Laying the groundwork for his scathing review, he diced the appetizers and the ambience as well as the primi (the pasta course) and the forty-five-minute wait preceding the main meal.
When the entrée was finally served, the veal chop his guest had ordered without sugar because of an allergy was “glistening with a sweet brown shine of fig gravy.” Although the waitress and owner were apologetic, they re-served the chop a second time by rinsing it under water and could not understand that it might still cause an allergic reaction.
In any event, on a scale of one to four bells, no bells were awarded. Not a good omen for a new restaurant.
