It wasn’t that many years ago that being a restaurant critic for a major newspaper meant a good salary plus a large expense account. That was when most papers still had budgets for that sort of thing, and the blogging world was just a whisper in the ether. While some major dailies in North America still cover those expenses (think LA Times or Globe and Mail), most publications have cut their budgets, word counts and salaries dramatically, thanks to dwindling advertising dollars and the growing competition from the online world.
I had the chance to speak with former Chez Panisse pastry chef and author/blogger David Lebovitz and famed food critic (The New York Post, LA Times), author and former editor for Gourmet magazine Ruth Reichl. Both are in town this week and later this month, respectively, to promote their new books. Here are some of their thoughts on the state of restaurant reviewing today:
Why do you think many smaller newspapers no longer employ restaurant critics? Do you think this is due to the growing competition from the online world?
RR: I don’t think the reason that some newspapers don’t have restaurant critics anymore is due to bloggers. It’s expensive—very expensive—to do it well, and I think newspapers are thrilled to have any excuse not to have critics anymore. My expense account at The New York Times was easily $150,000 per year, and that was over 15 years ago. At the LA Times, when I asked my editor what my budget was, the answer was, “We’ll let you know when you go over it.” They never did let me know.
What about objectivity? Can bloggers or even journalists with limited budgets be trusted to be objective these days?
DL: I don’t think you can be completely objective if you’re being hosted by the restaurant. I think if you don’t have the money to go out, you should go to cheaper restaurants. [But, as a blogger,] if you have a good enough track record and a good reputation, you can sell that to the restaurant. That being said, it’s quite common in France for some of the more well-known food critics to call ahead to let restaurants know they’re coming, and the meal is usually on the house.
What do you think about the current quality of food writing, both in print and online?
RR: I think the rise of the blogging and online world has made paid writers even better in many cases, as the onus is now on them to be on a much higher level than those who are just commenting for free. We have a really incredible group of people writing professionally about food right now. I think what most bloggers do is consumer reporting; telling you how to spend your money, essentially. Real food reporting has been moving away from that for a long time and is becoming more about the story, giving the reader a way to experience something more richly.
So how do readers choose whom to believe?
DL: I think you have to use your common sense. I can usually figure out pretty quickly if someone is a good writer and knows what they’re talking about.
My Paris Kitchen: Recipes and Stories
By David Lebovitz
(Ten Speed Press, 2014)
In this memoir-cum-cookbook, Lebovitz explores 100 classic French recipes using ingredients foraged from the ethnic neighbourhoods of Paris. Interspersed with quirky stories and anecdotes about his time in Paris, the book covers everything from the difficulty in pronouncing certain words (like moelleux – “meltingly soft”) to the evolving landscape of French cuisine. $41.00 at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks.
Delicious!
By Ruth Reichl
(Random House, 2014)
In this fiction debut, Reichl explores how food defines us through the story of Billie Breslin, a young woman who discovers letters in the archives of Delicious!, an iconic food magazine in New York, written between legendary chef James Beard and a 12-year-old girl during WWII. Meet Reichl and get a copy of the book on May 22, hosted by Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks. BooksToCooks.com
