321929 Wed Aug 30 14:41:43 -0700 2006 12 59 CHOW Feedback 0 1842835 i'm trying to read and enjoy chow. i'm failing. there's a certain cutesy martha stewarty tone on chow thats so different from chowhound - here you find lots of savvy opinionated posters who don't need, ferchrissakes, guidance on how much to spend on a bottle of wine. they don't need to anxiously call the store to see if they've received the 'right' cheese - a single bite is enough. which isn't to say chow can't/won't succeed - there's plenty of room on the web. i just find the pairing odd - like seeing 'tv news' co-hosted with 'downbeat'. Wed Aug 30 14:41:43 -0700 2006 11086 howler 1 1844885 It's targeted editorial content, the British government doesn't want you to see the good stuff, because they feel residents of the British Isles just arn't hip enough. See this story in the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/business/media/29times.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin You just don't know what kind of juicy stuff you are missing. ;-) Thu Aug 31 03:05:56 -0700 2006 1842835 10059 ChinoWayne 2 1845234 LOL. NOW i understand the recipe for a 'cubanesque sandwich'. Thu Aug 31 11:35:08 -0700 2006 1844885 11086 howler 1 1845683 Howler, The tone is definitely different on CHOW than Chowhound. To be clear, CHOW is not the "journal for Chowhound". We wanted CHOW to be a front end that *hopefully* had something editorially interesting for newbies and 'hounds alike. You may have seen a few posts saying there is "a lot of newbie questions being asked on the forums lately", and creating this editorial front end was one way we could help bring people who want to be houndish up to speed. I think if you dig a bit though, you'll find some editorial that is absolutely houndish in tone. Are you finding any? If not, what kind of stories would you like to see? Thu Aug 31 15:22:48 -0700 2006 1842835 10008 Tatum 1 1845873 "..you'll find some editorial that is absolutely houndish in tone. Are you finding any?" unfortunately not. i guess i don't understand the newbie/hound distinction. the world of food is so massively large that EVERYBODY is a newbie at most of it. at best, the majority will have a connossieurs appreciation for a very, very narrow range. the big turn on isn't therefore a scholarly understanding of whatever's at hand - it's the glimpse of soul. muzak can be tremendously complicated, but you and i would rather hear charlie parker on a plastic sax. at one stage or the other, we all have had to learn to forget the hype and just trust ourselves. never mind the wines rating, just pour it in the glass, will you? what makes a newbie an oldie is a faith in their own judgement, no? and that comes from 'hey, if you liked that - try this'. thats the sort of thing that brings about food satori - we can only point. there are no instructions. Thu Aug 31 16:23:50 -0700 2006 1842835 11086 howler 1 1845951 I just went to CHOW for the first time. What exactly is it? I could sign in using my CH Username, but what does one do once there? TT Thu Aug 31 16:48:22 -0700 2006 1842835 19247 TexasToast 2 1845982 It's an online magazine. Read it, post comments if you like. Thu Aug 31 16:58:21 -0700 2006 1845951 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 1849389 I don't want to pile on, especially because I assume you are more interested in comments on the interface than content, but I have to agree with Howler. So far, I'm disappointed with the content in Chow. Only one of the links on the front page interested me, so I clicked on "How To Prepare for the Meal of a Lifetime" (I've never seen a story on this topic) and then was dumbfounded by the content. I was about to write a comment and then noticed that Howler already said everything I would have. I hope there will be great interaction between Chow and Chowhound. But so far, Chow leans toward cutesy wordplay and "trends," more like "hard" magazines than online content. So far, with one exception I'll post about separately, it looks and "works" just fine. Fri Sep 01 21:59:32 -0700 2006 1842835 10031 Dave Feldman 1 1849472 I know the search function isn't up and running, but I'm finding it so frustrating to find my way around Chow.com that I now realize I'm already avoiding it, even when there's a subject that interests me. Dave Feldman referred above to "How to Prepare for the Meal of a Lifetime." I didn't care that the reference was rather negative, I was curious to read it. Couldn't find it. At least not quickly. I clicked on stories. And scrolled. And scrolled. Then I clicked on The Grinder and scrolled some more. Nope, not there. Maybe once search is operational this will no longer be problematic. But in the meantime I'm having difficulty categorizing subjects in order to narrow down those of interest and find that as the content rolls out the problem gets worse. Unfortunately, I have no suggestions--at least not yet--as to how the problem might be solved. Just want to voice my frustration at being unable to access subjects on the site that I know would appeal to me. If I could find them. Fri Sep 01 22:35:16 -0700 2006 1842835 11407 JoanN 2 1849645 Joan, You can find the article on the "front page" of Chow -- in the "Hot To" column -- the link is in the middle. And if you want to cheat: http://www.chow.com/stories/10015 Sat Sep 02 00:06:21 -0700 2006 1849472 10031 Dave Feldman 1 1850204 Tatum, so far "The Grinder" is the section that I could see myself checking regularly for a quick read of the boiled-down and aggregated news snippets. Yet, I'm pretty disappointed in the sample of feature stories that I've read. I've already posted my comments on the Illegal Cheese piece in the other thread. I just read the Burden of Proof wine piece and it's even more of a doozy. http://www.chow.com/stories/10032 The story is 5 paragraphs long, short paragraphs at that, and each one of those paragraphs has an error of fact. This story shouldn't have gotten past your editors to hit the screen. I'm in agreement with the three comments posted to the article to date. In addition, Amarone's alcohol level is NOT achieved by longer hang time. This is a classic wine style that is sculpted by appassimento, the traditional method of harvesting normal ripeness grapes and drying them before fermentation. The percentage of alcohol is high because the volume of water has been reduced in relation to sugar content. That's not a minor mistake and in combination with the others shoots down the site's cred. Unlike "howler", I don't have a problem with the breezy tone, nor with serving a broader audience. I had hoped for a higher standard, more interesting writing style even with entry-level editorial content. If that's not possible in the short term, then copy-editing and fact-checking need to be tightened up so you're not misinforming your readers. To make it as a food site, you can't misspell words like "taleggio" (that thankfully has been corrected). Sat Sep 02 07:59:08 -0700 2006 1842835 10039 Melanie Wong 1 1850494 but consider this feature: http://www.chow.com/stories/10015 its information content is zero and the feature simply looks like an excuse to strew around things like 'hottest restaurant' - a click will get you an ad for babbo - or the culinary institute of new orleans or whatever. in other words, an 'infomercial'. so why not simply label it as such? you can be as tongue-in-cheek or as serious sounding as you want once its clear you're writing an ad. Sat Sep 02 15:59:22 -0700 2006 1842835 11086 howler 1 1855260 I was also turned off by the link from "hottest restaurant in town" to Babbo. Is this to imply that we should assume all articles are about New York City? Without that link I was able to imagin that the article was generic, and applied to anybody that was able to obtain a reservation at an in demand restaurant, but now I know it is about the the author planning her own dinner at Babbo. I have enjoyed some of the articls on the site, but found this link to be a real shot to Chow's credability. Tue Sep 05 18:48:35 -0700 2006 1842835 36432 The_Bayou