How To Be A Food Blogger: A Modest Proposal

The LAT has a terrific article today about anonymity and restaurant criticism. Food bloggers don't care who knows them and neither does the New York Daily News' Restaurant Girl; Craig LaBan at the Philadelphia Inquirer was outed and the very recognizable, Pulitzer-winning Jonathan Gold says it doesn't make a difference.

Does it?

As restaurant critic at the Dallas Observer, I made reservations and used a credit card with a fake name. You couldn't find a photo of me, not that Google was around to search them. At the Knife, my picture's on the front page of Variety.com. I go to events like the Boule Atelier party at the publicist's invitation. And I'm one of the schmucks who Regina Schrambling says "give themselves away by whipping out their digital cameras."

It's the sort of thing that the Assn. of Food Journalists frowns on; others see it as reason for food bloggers to be spit on. However, I'd like to make a modest proposal of two guidelines for online food writers to live by:

1) Don't be stupid.

You know the chef? Fine. You went to a media dinner? Good for you. Blogging is more personal than traditional food writing and most bloggers don't have the expense accounts of their print brethren. But a blogger who wants to review a restaurant and call the chef to her table for a picture -- or writes about a media dinner as if it were the real thing -- is a fool.

2) Tell the truth.

A restaurant critic's anonymity protects more than identity; it protects peace of mind. Hard to imagine Lesley Brenner writing this as part of Sean Hardy's inner circle. Anonymity may be old-fashioned, but it's as good as Ambien when it comes to letting you sleep. The more chefs, the more publicists, the more media dinners you know, the more vulnerable you are to replacing criticism with empathy and then you've got a press release.

A test: If the phrase "I can't write that" means something to you, it's time to go cold turkey. Ignore all public invitations; read Ruth Reichl's "Comfort Me With Apples" for tips on dining in disguise. If you don't see results in less than two weeks... well, you're probably a nicer person than me.

Comments

[sarah]

i guess it depends on what the motivation is in "outing" yourself to restaurants, and writing in the first place. maybe some bloggers who are less anonymous WANT to be identified and known - an easier way to food fame, perhaps? who knows. blogging is so broad.

on talking to the chef - i sort of do it, but only because i was a chef stalker long before i ever blogged. govind armstrong, tom colicchio, mark peel, neal fraser, david myers are to me what um, jtimberlake is to my 13 year old cousin.

[Dana]

I agree -- blogging is a big-ass world, with plenty of room for chef stalkers. At the same time, I think bloggers are only self preserving if we check ourselves for signs of losing the plot -- i.e., sucking up to our heroes, steering clear of unpopular opinion. Having the guts to be transparent and tell the truth makes for an interesting blog.

Of course, that stance will also inspire chefs to grumble about bloggers-who-think-they-know-so-much... blah. Those bloggers are also responsible for a *lot* of attention thrown their way, far more than was available when the press meant printing.