Life on the Lake
“Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” Garrison Keillor
New York Times out of the last ten resto reviews the average star rating: 1.3
LA Times out of the last ten resto reviews the average star rating: 2.1
Star-Tribune out of the last ten resto reviews the average star rating: 2.95
In other words our amps all go to ELEVEN…
Its the same story everywhere my friend. in LA, NYC, Chicago etc the media is more direct, the bar is held higher, the competition between eateries and between media entities is more palpable etc.
also, wiht fewer restaurants EVERY critic in town reviews restaurants wiht an empahsis on ‘places to recommend’. Harsh words are only employed in a restaurant review where the joint is so heavily hyped that its impossible to ignore.
I know that you love the NYT (as do i) but if yu want to see what real venom is all about check out any of the London daily newspapers. Ouch!
Surely there is a balance, and I can think of none better than our own media to find a way to strike it.
While I may seem a harsh critic, I am also a huge fan of some of our local writers. I love Rick Nelson’s writing, and I am convinced that he could be among the great critics in the country–as Dara is–but given the historical role a newspaper plays, and the importance of numerical evaluations Rick is the main guy.
We don’t need to see a review every week, and a two or a three star could be very meaningful number if that was how it was explained.
Andrew, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. I’ll go first, even if that will mean a personal and professional sacrifice. All I ask is that the reviews that follow be consistently critical. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a martyr, nor am I willing to die for a cause that is mine alone. I do however believe with all my heart that we can be better, that restaurants can serve our community in a more meaningful way, and that we can hold each other to a higher standard.
I agree with the above conversation, with one adjustment to Shef’s comment: I think restaurants serve our community in very meaningful ways already. It’s that our media can serve our community in a more meaningful way. I never tune in to see their ratings for the very fact of their gushing. (I think this extends into other news areas too. Which is why after 10+ years in Mpls, I don’t subscribe to the ST and do still subscribe to the NYT.)
I wonder if all of this is hard core inside baseball. Does the average diner care if Rick gives a place 3 stars or 4? A newspaper critic is writing for the population of the community, not for the chefs in town or the restaurant owners.
Personally, I’d like to see more of an emphasis on service and ambiance and less of the obsession in describing food in such intricate detail, because I think that’s what most diners really care about. Give me good food plus great service and I’m much happier than great food with good service.
I think an online writer could find success writing the kind of bar-raising material that Zilla’s talking about, but I’m not sure how well that serves the average reader in Plymouth or Eden Prairie.
And Andrew’s point about the number of restaurants in town is really valid. If a critic constantly hammered the top tier of MSP restaurants, only giving 2 stars or 2.5 stars, what does that same critic do with the upper-middle tier? A reader sees a 1 star or a 1.5 star and thinks: “That place must suck.”
I tend not to pay too much attention to a restaurant rater # (it should be labeled “for entertainment purposes only”) nor stars other than thinking anything 3 or higher means I probably should try the place.
I suppose my fundamental question is: who is a critic serving? The highly educated food audience? The restaurant community? The general public?
Dear Shef,
Your bravado and comedic genius (I love Spinal Tap) aside, I think that you make a very good point in your comments. I appreciate your efforts to improve the overall standards of the Twin Cities, but I feel that the you have to play within the “rules of the game”, and the game currently is played on a different playing field than LA or NYC.
Maybe we should get all of the critics in the room at the same time, a ratings summit if you will. I would be happy to broker such an arrangement. Dara? Rachel? Rick? AZ? Are you in? I’m out!
Mr. Rick Tuesday
Jason,
“Who does the critic serve?” That is a friggn’ good question, and one I will most certainly use for a blog post. Thank you!
I agree a million percent with the service, atmosphere comment as well. There is a bizarre tendency for servers in the Twin Cities to think of a table as mostly done when the server has completed an entree table check, frankly it drives me up a fucking wall. OK, I am eating my entree so now I’m just an afterthought? weird.
Jason’s full of good questions.
Zilla–I know! I don’t know what else I expect, but cursory “everything all right?” and then “dessert? no? here’s your check” is so bare-minimum.
Maybe we are rubes and hicks here, which is sort of what is implied. We’ll eat anything and think it’s great. I think NY and LA are, shall we say, a bit jaded. Chicago too. Grew up there. You get so used to having so many choices for everything (and some world class ones at that)that it is easy to dismss something as unhip or inferior in some way if it is merely good.
I really could care less about a star rating for anything. I do want to hear about the food and the service to know if the money I work damn hard for will be well spent at a particular place. Nothing ticks me off more than to go to the ‘in place’ to get lousy service and precious food.
BTW – just ate at Picollo and had a near religious experience.
@Jason
“I wonder if all of this is hard core inside baseball. Does the average diner care if Rick gives a place 3 stars or 4?”
The average diner doesn’t read Rick Nelson. The average diner who reads Rick Nelson absolutely cares. I could barely get a seat at Travail’s bar for weekday lunch after his review came out.
At a certain point, critics lose their power to persuade, to drive business to worthy establishments.
Say a couple is looking for a special occasion restaurant, something beyond the usual Cheesecake Factory. They Google restaurant reviews and find a 2.5 star review for a place right down the road. In the process, they overlook 3.5-4 star places that are further away, or had a riskier menu. After all, 2.5 means good.
After dropping $125, they agree that the food was good, but there wasn’t anything special about the restaurant. Cheesecake Factory is in their comfort zone, serves big, splittable portions of familiar food, and costs less than half as much.
That’s a shame, because they could have gone to, say, Heidi’s, and had an a-ha moment.
steve, It’s not implied in the least.
You may not find stars ratings helpful, but many others do, me included. For the exact reason you described, it’s helpful to have a good sense of where to spend one’s hard earned dough.
I hear many wonderful things about Picollo, hopefully I will get there before I open. Saturday night I am dining at the chef table at Cosmos–I’m very excited about that.
I don’t really care about the ratings – but i almost didn’t comment b/c this is comment number 12. 11 Comments seemed – well, better than 10.
I just had a law school exam that started with a clip from Spinal Tap. It’s a classic. It helps explain why Minnesotans are so far above average.
Why not lucky number 13 for comments? What I like especially about OpenTable ratings, aside from the fact that they represent a far more statistically significant sample, is that as an audience member/customer, I can find the rating that makes the most sense for me. If I’m feeling like a “fit for foodies” dinner, I’ll search for that, and go to Piccolo or Haute Dish or Heartland (and soon again, Heidi’s). If I want American, I’ll search for that. For me, that rating makes more sense than just one that is trying to appeal to the demographic (or perceived demographic) of the publication. Any way, Piccolo on Sunday night for me…
so Shef have you eaten at Heartland yet?
Just like the restaurants around here, all theater performances and music events in Minnesota seem to be above average as well, they all end with a standing ovation. Must be in the water …
This is the land of mediocrity.
Are you surprised? Why do you think all the Minnesotans love Minnesota?