Recent changes in The Courant’s restaurant coverage, specifically the new feature “At The Table,” which is published Thursdays in the Flavor section, roused some good questions about the newspaper’s standards for restaurant reviews.
Assistant Managing Editor for Features and Business Naedine Hazell offered some equally good answers.
Q: Are there any geographical limits to the restaurants that are chosen for review? For instance, the restaurant reviewed Thursday, Oct. 26, The Dressing Room, is in Westport. To one reader, the choice was pretty far afield given that there are many restaurants in The Courant’s circulation area that haven’t been reviewed.
A: The Courant reviews restaurants throughout the state. Yes, our core readership area is key and a large majority of the reviews are in towns where we circulate. We believe, however, that restaurants on the shoreline, in Litchfield County, in the New Haven area and even in Fairfield County are fair game as well. We are looking for restaurants that are new, exciting, have name recognition, have well-known chefs or are known for their cooking. In the case of The Dressing Room in Westport, which was open for a month when we reviewed it, the owner/chef has owned a restaurant in Connecticut before, is known as a local chef/personality, and there was the not-inconsequential links with celebrity Paul Newman that accounted for our review.
Q: Is any consideration given to the length of time a restaurant has been open? Are there questions of fairness in reviewing a new restaurant?
A: Greg Morago [who alternates writing "At The Table" with Elissa Altman] says that one of the rules of thumb has been to give the restaurant two weeks before visiting. Restaurateurs know that a way to keep critics out in their first couple of weeks is to offer a “warm up” menu or take 15 percent or 20 percent off a bill as a “preview” menu. But, he said, that practice is pretty much dead because when the door is open, it’s open for business and restaurateurs understand they are fair game from the get-go. If they are open and charging full price for their meals they are “open” to any and all criticism.
Q: Both of The Courant’s reviewers have had their pictures published in the newspaper, ending any pretense of anonymity. Is that fair? Was there any consideration given to the fact that reviewers may receive preferential treatment because their identities are known?
A: Yes, both Greg and Elissa are “known” because their 1-inch-by-1-inch mug shots have been published in the paper. However, they make reservations anonymously or do walk-ins without reservations so that restaurant management does not know they are coming. If the reviewer felt that he or she were recognized and given preferential treatment, that fact would be mentioned in the review. Elissa had a mixed experience at The Dressing Room, so even if she had been recognized, it didn’t make much difference. Aside from the fact that both of the reviewers know how to cook (and that Elissa is a food editor and cookbook author), they bring their ability to write to the column. Anyone can have an opinion about food. What they are hired to do is provide a snapshot of the restaurant experience rendered in good writing drawn from a background in journalism and in food knowledge. Elissa brings about 25 years of food knowledge to the table; Greg about 15 years.
Q: There was also a question about who pays for the meal.
A: We pay for our own meals and that of anyone dining with us. Period.
