Message: | Before Mr. Grimes was at the NYT, Ruth Reichl was well known for her collection of wigs and costumes for her restaurant visits. She was very careful to keep her identity secretive. Eric Asimov who writes the $25 and Under column in the NYC is equally as careful. I would think that this practice extends to most newspaper restaurant critics. Other media like tourism and local guides (I'm not sure if LA magazine fits into this category) like the kind you find at hotels, and television reviews (a la FoodTV or Elmer Dills) make it a policy not to write bad reviews, so they will announce visits or filming or photo shoots if that's the case. However, I remember reading somewhere (I think it was Rosengarten for Gourmet magazine) that reviewers visit a restaurant a minimum of 3 or 4 times before they write a review, sometimes up to 6 visits, in order to make a fair assessment. |