The CulinaryWoman Newsletter, 12/12/21

Takedowns are entertaining, but are they fair?

First off, sending prayers and support to our friends in Kentucky and everyone else affected by this weekend’s devastating storm.

I was in at least three tornadoes when I was in grade school — one of them lifted our garage off its foundation and set it down four inches away. Thank goodness for all the warnings from weather forecasters; without them, the toll would have been greater.

This week, social media was buzzing about the latest restaurant take down. And while I laughed and gasped along with everyone else, I’ve gotten to know many restaurant owners over the past few years.

It made me ponder whether take down reviews can ever be fair.

Now, before you stop me, I absolutely agree that when you pay money for a meal, you should receive something of value in return. Customers have every right to complain when they aren’t happy, as long as it’s a legitimate issue and not something petty.

Most restaurants will leap to take care of the problem. And, if they don’t, you have a choice not to go back, and make your views known on review sites or your social pages.

But there’s a difference when it involves a writer: their actions draw attention in a more amplified way.

A Disastrous Dinner In Italy

The latest such missive comes from Geraldine DeRuiter, who describes herself on her website as “an acclaimed author, world-renowned public speaker, and the voice behind the award-winning Everywhereist blog.”

You might remember that Geraldine took Mario Batali to task for sending out a pizza cinnamon roll recipe shortly after he faced accusations of sexual harassment in his New York restaurants.

This time, she humorously and scathingly took apart a restaurant called Bros, in Lecce, Italy. She described her experience as “the worst Michelin starred restaurant, ever” in this piece.

Her post featured pictures of the unsightly dishes she and her friends were served in a tasting menu. It sparked a lengthy Twitter debate, and eventually drew a mystifying response from the restaurant complete with this drawing of a horse.

A perpetually popular genre

Her piece is part of a genre that’s gained liftoff in the social media era.

Pete Wells, with whom I worked at the New York Times, has become a master of the art form, savaging Guy Fieri’s Times Square restaurant in 2012.

In 2016, he was disdainful of Thomas Keller’s Per Se. Then, in 2019, he took apart Peter Lugar, the heralded Brooklyn steakhouse, which you can see above.

Criticism is, after all, what critics do. And, notable take downs get clicks, cause conversations, and give the writer lots of visibility — all the kind of “engagement” that every news outlet wants.

You can understand why readers would be cheering them on. Resentment really builds when you spend money on an evening that didn’t meet your expectations, or when you didn’t get treated as warmly as people who seemed to be regulars.

But I can see the proprietor’s side to it, as well.

Good owners want to hear directly from guests when things go wrong. Many appreciate getting feedback as quickly as possible, so that a problem can be fixed before the diner leaves the establishment. (There’s a discussion of how Zingerman’s handles this in my upcoming book.)

From the diner’s point of view, however, there are times when you don’t want to speak to a manager. All you want to do is get out of there as quickly as possible.

And, sometimes the problem didn’t ruin the entire meal, so you don’t speak up, because you don’t want the place to feel obligated to tear up the check.

Another way to handle it

If you’d like some resolution, I think the most constructive approach is to email or call the restaurant with the specifics of what went wrong.

That way, information can be shared with staff, and if ingredients are involved, vendors can be looped in. Often, the restaurant will deduct a discount, sometimes cancel the transaction, or at the very least, invite you back for another try.

The more time I spend as a food journalist, the more sympathetic I am to servers, cooks and chefs. Nobody sets out to make you unhappy and let’s face it, another diner might not even notice what upset you.

I will still ask for a re-do when a wrong order comes out, but I’m increasingly less likely to take down someone in print or on social media.

While it’s completely appropriate to warn people that their money might not be well spent, I also would rather not post anything at all about a place if I have a disappointing experience. As a Times editor once told me, the stories you don’t do say as much as the stories you do.

By all means, enjoy witty writing, especially when it’s clear that the place deserves the criticism. Geraldine’s dinner truly sounded like a nightmare, particularly because her party had pointed out food sensitivities that were ignored.

We’ll see in a few months, though, what kind of impact it made on Bros. Our culture is so topsy-turvey now that her review might actually generate some sympathy for them.

After all, Guy Fieri’s empire is intact and Per Se and Peter Lugar remain in business. That old saying, “Any publicity is good publicity,” could be right.

The Brownies Ina Garten Made Me Are Now On Goldbelly

After I took Patricia Wells’ cooking class last decade, I decided I wanted to attempt some food writing.

Even though I was the Detroit bureau chief at the Times, the Dining section preferred writers who had worked in restaurants, or could demonstrate previous food writing experience.

But the Sunday Business section was open to my food writing efforts. Patricia is friends with Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, and I thought a story about Ina as a businesswoman might be interesting to my editors.

I knew Ina’s husband Jeffrey from his work at Yale, so I emailed her, saying he could vouch for me. Ina agreed to be interviewed for my story, and I drove out to East Hampton to see her. We had a great conversation, then Ina invited our photographer and me to stay for lunch.

It was a simple menu: chowder and salad. Then, she brought out massive brownies, rich and chocolately and dense. I’m sure it would have been smarter caloriewise to eat only part of mine, but I polished off every crumb.

Ina subsequently came out with a line of baking mixes, including the brownies. I made them a few times before the products were discontinued, and always had warm memories of our lunch.

Now, years later, Ina has joined Goldbelly, and one of the things she’s selling are those brownies. They’re $59 for a pan of nine, with or without walnuts, but you can easily cut them smaller and get more from your order. (Tip: if you sign up for Goldbelly text messages, you can get $15 off.)

Sometime this winter, when you want to treat yourself, Ina’s brownies are waiting.

My Latest Writing

I’m sure you’ve heard about the shooting that killed four students and wounded seven at Michigan’s Oxford High School on Nov. 30. Shortly afterwards, student leaders at Pioneer High School here in Ann Arbor reached out to tell me about a tribute they planned for the Oxford students.

They did not get to hold it, but they shared their thoughts about the frightening climate. You can read what Cookie, Bizzy and Ben had to say in my column for the Washington Post.

On a less gloomy note, a Mexican-inspired condiment is beginning to make itself known. My piece for The Takeout looks at salsa macha, which chefs are marketing as an accent for all kinds of dishes.

Two — Yes, Two — CulinaryWoman Giveaway Winners!

Because of our brief hiatus, I have a pair of giveaway winners to announce.

Rick Chlopan of Lexington, KY won the autographed copy of Going into Business with Emma Goldman: 18 Anarchist Lessons for Business and Life, a pamphlet by Ari Weinzweig, the co-founder of Zingerman’s.

I didn’t know this when his name was drawn, but Rick, a retired university educator and administrator, is a “huge fan” of Zingerman’s. When I told him he won, he replied,

“I spent the late sixties and the seventies in Ann Arbor, and left just before Zingerman's opened up.” But, he has made up for lost time since then.

He added, “I would like to give a big shout out to Kristie Brablec and the Zingerman's Food Tours and for Ari and Ari's Top 5 for expanding my mind (and my waistline).”

Meanwhile, Henry Harteveldt is the winner of the fabulous Peet’s Coffee & Tea holiday gift box.

If you are in the travel world, you know Henry as the much respected aviation and travel analyst. He’s been an enormous help to me through the years.

But Henry also has a delightful side gig. Each Friday, he serves up a Twitter cocktail featuring his extensive collection of airline glassware. Follow him and watch for the #avgeek hashtag announcing that week’s gathering.

Congratulations to our winners! We will have one last giveaway before the holidays, so stay tuned this week.

To be eligible for future giveaways, upgrade your subscription and become a paid subscriber or a founding member of the CulinaryWoman Newsletter. (Current paid members are automatically entered.)

You also can become eligible by giving a gift subscription, which makes a nice present. I’m happy to send a personal email to your gift recipient.

Keeping Up With Culinary Woman

I’m really excited about what’s happening on Monday. I’m going into the studio to record the introduction of Satisfaction Guaranteed for the upcoming audio book.

The audio book, and all the other forms of Satisfaction Guaranteed are available now for pre-orders, in advance of publication on Feb. 22. It’s only a little more than two months away.

Remember to email me if you place a pre-order, and I’ll put you on the list for a special bonus.

You can reach me at culinarywoman at gmail dot com. Follow me on Tik Tok @culinarywoman (keep an eye out for #ZingTok) and I’m @michelinemaynard on Instagram.

Stay safe, especially in light of bad weather, and be sure to get your booster. Wear a mask for more protection.

See you next week!