Back in the day of the dinosaurs, when I was in the news business, one used
to verify a story with at least three different sources, before running with it.
These days, everybody is an expert, if they say they are, and news media will reprint blog and twitter reports as if they are gospel. That’s not only ‘dangerous’, it’s irresponsible.
I’ve written positive reviews here, and negatives. I try to make it clear that my opinion is just that, my opinion, and just because I don’t care for a place, or the food, doesn’t mean you wouldn’t. So you should take mine (or most food
bloggers) recs and pans with the proverbial grain of salt.
There used to be a theory that xx (a small number) of the population were the most vocal, and that % were also the most critical – that people that feel positive about something rarely comment.
I don’t know if that’s true or not.
What I do know is that often when I am reading an online food review, or Yelp, or Urban Spoon, or whatever, it feels to me like maybe the writer’s cat died that day, and they are taking out all the ills of the world on some poor chef, or waiter.
Why do we demand perfection of chefs and waiters every single damned day of their lives, but (most of us) can’t say we live up to that same standard?
What, you never had a bad day at work?
I’m writing this to emphasize one thing: that we NEVER forget how incredibly hard it is to be in the hospitality business, and the myriad of things that can go wrong on a daily basis. Sometimes it may be somebody’s actual “fault” at the restaurant, but sometimes maybe it’s that the chickens that were flown in from across the country defrosted on some tarmac somewhere. So what.
I say never judge a book by its cover, and never judge a restaurant or bar by a single visit.
Unless, of course, you’ve never made a single mistake in your own professional life. I sure can’t make that claim.
What do you think about blogger experts?