Are Food Critics The Emperor With No Clothes?

[ChinoWayne]

Drew Magary writing in Gawker seems to think so:

http://gawker.com/5913046/food-critic...

[raytamsgv]

It depends on the food critic. If I discover that I have the same tastes as a food critic, that person's critiques hold more weight. The same is true of chowhounders.

[small h]

I remember when Gawker used to be good. It was a long time ago. Lately it's composed of 85% Reddit reposts, 10% "Amirite?" rants (like this dumbass one, which sounds like it was plagiarized from Andy Rooney) and 5% John Cook, who's the only reason I still visit the site.

The fact that Robert Sietsema is pictured as an example of one of those supposedly fancy-pants, elitist critics speaks volumes.

[bdr]

At least crowd-sourcing can ferret out the terrible food reviewers out there, like Judie Dweck in the Scarsdale Inquirer in NY. Has never written a single negative word in her reviews, and clearly gets the restaurant to comp her meals, not the paper. I asked the paper, they confirmed she isn't paid by them. And she interviews the chef before every meal.

[linus]

quite possibly the dumbest thing i have read in a long time. however, kudos to the author for missing the point so radiantly.

[Worldwide Diner]

I happen to think he's right on. A sample size of one is useless.

[small h]

So read more than one review.

[Worldwide Diner]

And I do, To be honest, I make more money and can eat better than any food critic. So a food critic's review is worthless to me. I'm more interested in reading reviews of others like me who are adventurous eaters that have traveled all over the world - hence I watch No Reservation (even though I detest AB) and Bizarre Food. That's also why I participate on Chowhound. There are more dedicated "amateur" foodies here than employed by any newspaper.

[small h]

Of course there are. No newspaper could afford to employ the number of people who post here. You're talking (sort of) about crowd sourcing, which I think is a fine resource. But I would hate for it to be the only resource available to me.