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Chodorow blasts Bruni

Chodorow blasts Bruni
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  • Chodorow blasts Bruni

    Post #1 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:03 pm
    Post #1 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:03 pm Post #1 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:03 pm
    http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyo ... -headlines

    -parker
  • Post #2 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:18 pm
    Post #2 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:18 pm Post #2 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:18 pm
    Does Mr. Chodorow believe that a food critic with the background he so desires would have given him a different (i.e., better) review of his restaurant (which does seem light in culinary prowess)? It seems like Mr. Chodorow is making a distinction without a difference.
  • Post #3 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:46 pm
    Post #3 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:46 pm Post #3 - February 22nd, 2007, 12:46 pm
    I for one take umbrage to the notion that one must be somehow schooled in the culinary arts in order to have any sort of valid or informed opinion regarding a restaurant.
    It doesn't take stovetop burns on your forearms or a degree in your den to know if the restaurant ain't working.
    -p
  • Post #4 - February 22nd, 2007, 2:52 pm
    Post #4 - February 22nd, 2007, 2:52 pm Post #4 - February 22nd, 2007, 2:52 pm
    While these debates are ultimately unresolvable, they can occasionally be illuminating. Unfortunately, the linked article made no mention of the bona fides that Bruni either has, or lacks for the job. It would be interesting to know, whether one agrees with his assessment of Kobe or not.

    Personally, I like my critics to have some specialized knowledge of the discipline, but there are many ways to get that. One needn't be a chef to critique a restaurant, or a film director to write movie reviews. But one ought to know something, and it is certainly a matter of interest to one's audience to know what it is that you know and how you came to know it.
    "Strange how potent cheap music is."
  • Post #5 - February 22nd, 2007, 4:22 pm
    Post #5 - February 22nd, 2007, 4:22 pm Post #5 - February 22nd, 2007, 4:22 pm
    Here is the ad: http://www.chinagrillmgt.com/pdf/Response_NYTimes.pdf

    Bill/SFNM
  • Post #6 - February 22nd, 2007, 4:47 pm
    Post #6 - February 22nd, 2007, 4:47 pm Post #6 - February 22nd, 2007, 4:47 pm
    I agree with the above. I just bristle a little at an otherwise successful restrateur pissing and moaning about a single review of a single restaurant. (Of course, I understand the implications of a review from the Times, for both any owner and any restaurant's employees.)

    Anyways--Bruni was, before this, the Times' Bureau chief in Rome, so he had thrust within the organization. I would assume he would be quite versed in Italian cuisine (according to Buford's "Heat," his first review was Babbo, about which Mario had quite the jitters prior to Bruni's affirmation of their four stars), but other than that, I know not.
  • Post #7 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:32 am
    Post #7 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:32 am Post #7 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:32 am
    I believe Babbo is 3/4 stars. Not that it really matters.
  • Post #8 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:43 am
    Post #8 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:43 am Post #8 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:43 am
    Works out well for the Times-- run a bad review and then get the person to pay you almost $100K to run a rebuttal. :lol:

    I think responding to reviews is almost always dumb and it certainly was in this case. I also think he did himself a lot more damage with that reality show than most critics could do to him.
  • Post #9 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:45 am
    Post #9 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:45 am Post #9 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:45 am
    Babbo is indeed three stars. Buford's book points out that Bruni was very high on the place culinarily (he managed to visit multiple times without being recognized). His objection was the music: not what was played (though that appeared to have played a role) so much as its volume. As Buford relates it, the music was how Batali likes it when he's in-house--extremely loud to the point of making conversation difficult. His house, his choice. But it apparently cost him a fourth star from Bruni.

    As to the Chodorow ad, I find myself agreeing pretty much with mrbarolo. That said, I wonder whether Mr. Chodorow ever objected to positive reviews when the reviewer hadn't established his or her bona fides to Chodorow's satisfaction. Notwithstanding the ostensible power of the NYT (and/or Bruni), I find the reaction instructive and sad. If people like a place, they will come--critics be damned. Even in NYC. I suspect that the Bruni review was, for whatever reason(s), simply the straw that broke the camel's back. Why Chodorow feels so put upon is another matter--but I don't think he's done himself proud with this ad. Sometimes, even if you're 100% in the "right" (whatever that might be), the best thing to do is keep your mouth shut.

    Makes me grateful, yet again, to be in Chicago, where the temperature is cooler.
    Gypsy Boy

    "I am not a glutton--I am an explorer of food." (Erma Bombeck)
  • Post #10 - February 23rd, 2007, 10:00 am
    Post #10 - February 23rd, 2007, 10:00 am Post #10 - February 23rd, 2007, 10:00 am
    Funny, my favorite thing about Babbo was the music last time I was there: a nice selection of Southern Fried Rock: Molly Hatchet, Outlaws, Skynnard. I really liked eating squab-stuffed ravioli with the soundtrack for a Florida carnival ride in the background. Spiaggia meets the Flying Bobs.

    Babbo is a fine restaurant, a favorite. I really like the gameplan and the ingredients. But, truth be told, the kitchen has not been 4-star on my visits. (Little things like too-stiff pasta, less-than-perfect temperature meats, etc.) It's also not fancy enough to be a 4 star, no matter how good. Which is no knock at all. See also Blackbird, Schwa, etc.
  • Post #11 - February 23rd, 2007, 11:24 am
    Post #11 - February 23rd, 2007, 11:24 am Post #11 - February 23rd, 2007, 11:24 am
    Right--I do now remember the music/4 star thing.
    I also remember, within Buford's book, when Mario was digging through the trash for ingredients for his cioppino. For those in the know within the restaurant business, maybe this doesn't elicit much in the way of response, but I would think they wouldn't be able to put that on the menu without calling it something else anymore.
    This probably occurs with many, many stew/soup concoctions in the restaurant business--particularly on Mondays or Sundays, in using the scraps from the weekend that didn't sell. But the trash? I think it's taking the whole Julia Child 'if you drop the lamb on the floor just pick it up' thing a bit far for my tastes. I guess the people gotta eat, though.
  • Post #12 - February 23rd, 2007, 11:37 am
    Post #12 - February 23rd, 2007, 11:37 am Post #12 - February 23rd, 2007, 11:37 am
    ParkerS wrote:Right--I do now remember the music/4 star thing.
    I also remember, within Buford's book, when Mario was digging through the trash for ingredients for his cioppino. For those in the know within the restaurant business, maybe this doesn't elicit much in the way of response, but I would think they wouldn't be able to put that on the menu without calling it something else anymore.
    This probably occurs with many, many stew/soup concoctions in the restaurant business--particularly on Mondays or Sundays, in using the scraps from the weekend that didn't sell. But the trash? I think it's taking the whole Julia Child 'if you drop the lamb on the floor just pick it up' thing a bit far for my tastes. I guess the people gotta eat, though.


    One of the places I worked at used to have the busboys cut the ends off of the uneaten loaves of bread and toss them in a bin for the next day's bread pudding. This was acceptable to the health dept at the time, but then a disgruntled employee wrote a letter to one of the local papers in the area of the store. This resulted in quite a bit of bad press and the practice was stopped.

    Flip
    "Beer is proof God loves us, and wants us to be Happy"
    -Ben Franklin-
  • Post #13 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:03 pm
    Post #13 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:03 pm Post #13 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:03 pm
    bibi rose wrote:Works out well for the Times-- run a bad review and then get the person to pay you almost $100K to run a rebuttal. :lol:

    I think responding to reviews is almost always dumb and it certainly was in this case. I also think he did himself a lot more damage with that reality show than most critics could do to him.

    Hmm... Bibi, Mimi... :)
  • Post #14 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:44 pm
    Post #14 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:44 pm Post #14 - February 23rd, 2007, 9:44 pm
    Well, it's no Terry Gilliam vs. Sid Sheinberg, but amusing nonetheless.

    One thing I'd like to know, though. If Chodorow opens restaurants "for people, not critics", and Frank Bruni isn't really a bona fide food critic... well, then wouldn't it stand to reason that Bruni's review is the most legitimate among those he cites?

    Just askin' :-)
    Dominic Armato
    Dining Critic
    The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com
  • Post #15 - February 24th, 2007, 10:47 am
    Post #15 - February 24th, 2007, 10:47 am Post #15 - February 24th, 2007, 10:47 am
    One thing I'd like to know, though. If Chodorow opens restaurants "for people, not critics", and Frank Bruni isn't really a bona fide food critic... well, then wouldn't it stand to reason that Bruni's review is the most legitimate among those he cites?


    Fine rhetorical logic, indeed. Cicero would be proud. As old Tully said it, "Reason should direct and appetite obey."
  • Post #16 - March 21st, 2007, 9:53 am
    Post #16 - March 21st, 2007, 9:53 am Post #16 - March 21st, 2007, 9:53 am
    A bit more here.

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