Awhile back, in a post long long ago (that I'm not going to try and post the link) I said I didn't think it would be appropriate for someone running a restaurant to be running around critiquing them.
Well, I've changed my mind. Why?
1. This is why I started the blog in the first place.
2. Because I have had people contact me saying that doesn't make any difference to them.
3. (and probably the biggest reason) is that when I was in culinary school, I had an instructor by the name of Chef Peter Michael. Chef Michael was a Certified Master Chef (CMC), the highest designation of "chefdom" there is and there are only "maybe" a 100 in the USA. He was also a judge for those who took, and mostly failed, the Certified Master Chef examination. This is the Chef I had who taught me how to cut up shallots and make chicken stock!! But not only did he teach us this, but stories about life. And one of those things was how to enjoy a social life as a Chef. He claimed that he and his wife would always get invited over to friends' house for AFTER dinner drinks because people were too intimated to cook for him (which I don't know if it was his CMC status or because he was almost the size of an NFL offensive lineman). But his comeback to that was: "Just because I cook this way, doesn't mean I eat this way. I like a burger on the grill just as much as the next guy." This was evident when several of us were at a local fair and ran into him and his wife and he was chowing on a fair food hot dog; no fancy sauces, no correctly minced onions, no made from scratch mustard. He wasn't judging or critiquing when it came to his personal enjoyment.
And I think back and realize that I didn't *overly* critique restaurants from a professional's point of view; I merely made observations and reported on them. No star rating system. And only average or above reviews...never really slammed anyone; I wanted you to know of the good places and try them from "just a guy's perspective" and let the places that just didn't "cut the mustard" toil away unannounced.
Now, I have less time to do reviews than in the past, so they may be few and far in-between, but they will show up from time to time. Actually, I do have one I will post in a few days.
See You Around The Table..... (once again)
Chef Kevin
7 comments:
Yayyy!!
Double Yayyy! I enjoy your opinions!
Awesome. I wouldn't know about Fedora's or Smo-king Pit if it wasn't for you. Hooray!
Yay! I think you're good. As long as you didn't say Oh you should go to *insert your restaurants name* here instead, I dont see anything wrong.
Anon 2:
That does bring up some good points. You will never hear me say "come to the Ironstone Room because I make a better......." Odds are I will want to eat something that I don't make every day, anyway :)
However, I will still promote special events that are happening at the winery on my blog.
Atta Boy....welcome back to the fold.
Harvest Cafe: have you eaten there and what's your opinon? It's one of my favorite places to eat.
Mazr: no I haven't eaten there. I know people who have and the remarks are generally positive.
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