Why Vancouver Food Blogger are Irrelevant saps.

Category: Local Questions & Answers

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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:

I follow a large number of food bloggers in Vancouver on Twitter and via their blogs. Not one amongst them ever writes a negative critical review about any venue. All they do is write advertorials so they can get invites to events and drive traffic to their sites. It honestly disgusts me that these people even call themselves critics when they are basically advertising for hire. Has anyone else noticed this?

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8/30/2010 Johnson C. says:
Agreed - I think a lot of people ignore the source of revenue from 'professional' reviewers. How can someone be fair when their meal was comped and they were treated with preferential service? In addition, I notice many of the blogs run contests like "retweet XYZ for a chance to win a $XX gift card to restaurant ABC" - massive fail.

Outside of BBC, Consumer Reports, or other media outlets with strict no advertising/sponsorship mandates, I expect most professional critics keep ad-buyers interests in the back of their mind - well maybe, expect Roger Ebert. So it's not a shock to see this in food blogging.
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
There are other ways to make money from your blog than directly from the business you review. How about building some credibility and developing a following and then making money through affiliate traffic etc. The issue is that these restaurants become their clients and the public become customers to both the blogger and the restaurant. It does happen a bit in the blogging world but other cities have a lot more objective bloggers where as Vancouver is absolutely flooded by these saps who coincidentally seem to have no credentials in regards to food and drink either. I am tempted to call these bloggers out by name and see what they have to say.
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8/30/2010 Lee "NWdiver" N. says:
Not to overly defend the bloggers but (who may or may not get any advantage from spending their own time to write their blog), to only write positive reviews may mean they are not writing up the poor experiences, I see nothing wrong with that, but to positively review a place that is horrible that I find very suspect, I wonder if we were in the same place.
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
The ones I am referring to review every major restaurant that opens so I don't think that is the case here. On Yelp my reviews are weighted to the positive because I try not to go to places I think are bad but these bloggers can't even put one sentence of criticism together. They are such advertorial saps that they often go as far as quoting the media releases from the restaurants verbatim. What is worse is that the restaurant owners end up being surrounded by brown nosing, self servings nobody's so they never get the open feedback they often desire and need.

To name and shame one read this Blogger's Bio.

http://richardwolak.co...

This is one interesting line:

"Additionally, I work with restaurants and others in the hospitality industry providing marketing and social media strategies"

SO it is in his interests to be positive in everything he writes because he is looking to, or already has, taken them on as clients. There is no disclaimer or full disclosure on his blog http://vancouverfoodst... in reagrds to his real business. Instead he passes himself off as a passionate foodie who blogs for the love of it when it is really a part of a broader marketing strategy.
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8/30/2010 Kat "with club sauce" S. says:
What about Sherman's Food Adventures? He seems to be rather honest. http://www.shermansfoo.../
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Kat, I do not follow Sherman at all so perhaps he is a shining light. CHecking it out now:)
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8/30/2010 Chris B. says:
I know a number of the local food bloggers and many of them are not in the business of negativity. Your opinion as to why this is may be because you think they are trying to butter people up for invites, but consider that they are bloggers, not food critics. If someone labels themselves as a critic than I agree with you completely, but to tell someone how they should blog be it for fun or profit, seems odd to me.

Most of the better sites give local industry news and information. As a news source you're best to avoid editorial in the form of personal opinion... no?
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Chris my issue is that in the case of Vancouver Foodster if he was in print or television he would have to disclose when writing about establishments that he was working for them as a marketer, he does not.

He is writing a blog so he is a journalist of sorts and as such should follow a code of ethics. If you write about a business and are receiving anything in return you should be diclosing it. I don't think the butter up for invites was my angle as much as these bloggers work as marketing tools for the restaurants and pass themselves off as objective when in fact they are far from it.

The nature of blogging in general is one filled with opinion and the blogger in question does provide a first person opinion. He makes recommendations and one of his main focuses is reviews in which he freely expresses 'personal' opinions which makes him a critic of sorts. His opinions are taken by readers to be his personal opinions and not influenced by the fact that he may be on their payroll in one way or another or looking to source the business as a future client.

Of course there are many Vancouver Food Bloggers who do not fit this mould but many closer to the top of the pile do.
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8/30/2010 Chris B. says:
@Alex That I completely understand. The way you wrote the first post seemed to make it a bit of a broad stroke, so I figured it best to play devils advocate. If you claim to be a critic, you best be honest and transparent. If you claim to just be a 'blogger' providing information on the local scene without reviews then do as you please.
8/30/2010 Elliott W. says:
@ Alex, not sure about Vancouver food blogs as I haven't read any, but thanks for letting me know not to in the future and just stick with yelp, hahaha. Incidentally, many of the top yelpers I know in LA have this love/hate-type thing going on with the top celebrity food critics down there (Jonathan Gold of the LA Weekly, Irene Virbila of the LA Times)... some of us more just straight-up hate... I guess that's why we yelp! :P
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Chris reading my first post again I wasn't so clear in my inital rant, ranting can do that to a person haha.

@Elliott I think part of the issue is that when people are small time critics they are much more honest and justifiably brutal in their reviews. As they get bigger and more well know they start meeting more and more industry people and end up developing close relationships with them that makes it impossible for them to be objective. A true critic would never befriend a restauranter for that reason alone. I might drop back into the LA talk threads for some discussion it sounds like the LA Yelp crowd could be a bit of fun. I am all for flaming some critics as well!
8/30/2010 Elliott W. says:
The most insufferable thing about Jonathan Gold (sorry for hijacking the thread, LOL, but indulge me for a bit) is that he really likes to fluff his media presence. Most foodies down here know his voice from all the radio he does AND know his face from pictures/TV shows. Now granted, he's as well known for championing the hole-in-the-wall pho type place as he is the next Michelin-starred joint, so many of the small restaurants he reviews probably wouldn't know who he is, but I'm absolutely certain ALL of the haute cuisine maitre d's know his face and know it well. Throw in the fact that his meals are always comped, and how could his experiences anywhere ever be anything like that of the average joe diner?
- Elite '12
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8/30/2010 Mathieu "Button Masher" Y. says:
The issue is reviewing being bought out more than anything else. Although I do not follow food reviews, I write music and local concert reviews for a paper and know that my negative reviews will not got published. Why? Advertisers and venues make the paper exist in the first place, and criticizing them is never good for business. Venues will also often give me press pass for a show and free drinks, etc. Of course, that can't change the music or event theyre hosting for the night. I often try to skip venues all together and go to house shows, public events, etc because of this.

The answer is simply not writing a bad review, and that makes sense until you're on a deadline to get something published. Then it's sucking it up and writing something between the lines, neither bad nor good. Writing a bad review but giving someone a high "star" rating is a good way of doing this, for example.
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Mathieu I have written for music newspapers before and I used to think it was bad news if I got feedback that a label really liked my review! I was totally free however to write openly critical reviews because the paper was smart enough not to target advertisers where there would be a conflict of interest like you mentioned. We had venues as sponsors but no venue ever seemed to haev a problem with us giving a poor review to a band that played at their venue. You can suck it up an right an objective style review with no criticism etc but really, why bother. Why would you become a writer and then end comprimising your ethics. It is a slippery slope indeed.
- Elite '12
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8/30/2010 Mathieu "Button Masher" Y. says:
I agree, and I try not to write objectively about a band unless I dislike them. At least, when read in contrast to the other reviews, it does appear that I am definitely not doing them any favors.

At the same time, no news is often good news about a band, and a lot of them will give up after a lack of interest. Word of mouth is still the best way to trash a crappy act
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8/30/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Matthieu haha that is true. No coverage is a slow and painful death for a band.
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8/31/2010 Marc "Hole in the Wall" D. says:
@Alex - Someone should start an honestly titled blog: "Vancouver Restaurant PR"
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9/1/2010 Sonya "Here to promote Wal-Mart" R. says:
Hey Alex - I have grown accustomed to mistrusting the written word in newspapers and websites. Writing is not exactly lucrative for people unless they (or the paper) doesn't heavily depend on it for income. If a writer has a day job, it seems he will be free to write whatever he wants.. He can set the tone. Those blogs tend to be the most interesting to me - more clear in tone and voice, more uniform.

But writing these days, and in all the years past, has never been a glamourous job, in many cases at least. How do you make money from providing free information? I don't even realize how much I miss snark and brutal honesty until I realize it could be there, if only people weren't so polite, careful,and worried about consequences. A lot of actual thought is deleted from public dialogue because of that. People defend the status quo, saying why it makes sense, and they will defend the writing culture in Vancouver, but yes I agree with you.

For me personally, blogs such as the one you exposed are just good because you SEE the food at restaurants. That's the main key for me for getting use out of local food blogs - what's on the menu? show me pictures, and make them pretty.

I know I personally have recently begun using my Yelp to show some information I only learned because of my job, but it was nonprofit orgs I truly believed in. The review format is open-ended - I use Yelp just to tell people something exists!
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9/1/2010 Geoff "Fez" G. says:
Not a Vancouverite, but check this out -

http://thisispizza.blo...

...pity as I love the pasta at Marcello. Oh well, to each their own.
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9/5/2010 conrad y. says:
I find most Vancouver food bloggers to be illiterate chronically shallow dopes.
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9/17/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
This just popped up on Twitter today, I am not alone.

MainlyMain I've given him a lot of crap, but kudos to @Vanfoodster for starting to be somewhat critical. Even if it's BS
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9/17/2010 F G. says:
Alex "Bird is the Word" D. says:

I follow a large number of food bloggers in Vancouver on Twitter and via their blogs. Not one amongst them ever writes a negative critical review about any venue. All they do is write advertorials so they can get invites to events and drive traffic to their sites. It honestly disgusts me that these people even call themselves critics when they are basically advertising for hire.
+++++++++
so, remind me why you are wasting your time reading their reviews?
- Elite '12
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9/17/2010 Ryan "Foodoofus" M. says:
Well some publications do rely on "advertisement and sponsorship" to get an increase of traffic and interests in their domain.

Therefore, scrutinizing their own "audience/clients" would (and could) hinder their goals to becoming more popular.

Case in point, the food bloggers you follow.
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9/17/2010 Danielle "Nellie" B. says:
Alex, I totally agree with what you're saying - I am very familiar with a lot of these food bloggers and only ONE I've read actually states in her reviews times when she can't honestly rate the service because she was there as a friend of a friend, or what have you. She also clearly lets the reader know when her food or drinks have been comped. I find this to be much more "honest" in her review of the place, and while there might not be a lot of negativity in her posts, it seems that she is pretty honest about what she thought (ie: "not my favourite" or "lacked flavour") about the experience as a whole.

As for other reviewers/bloggers, whose food or drinks are most likely comped because of the good reviews they are posting, or the fact that they are working together with the restaurant, I guess we just have to take the approach of "reader beware", in a sense, and check out other forums such as Yelp to assist us in seeing the big picture.

I personally can't stand seeing people who post mostly negative reviews or mostly positive reviews (I usually check out the person's profile to see all their reviews) and then I kind of weed out the ones who post all 5-star ratings or all 1 or 2-star ratings. I used to use another site to post my reviews and I'm in the transition of re-reviewing a lot of restaurants on Yelp because I find myself turning here every time I hear about a new place, rather than the above-mentioned bloggers' sites.

Honesty IS appreciated - even if not by everyone. :)
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9/17/2010 Mijune P. says:
Hi there, I'm a Vancouver food blogger and I write honest reviews :) http://www.followmefoo...
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9/17/2010 Ching T. says:
Johnson "East Van J" C. says:

Agreed - I think a lot of people ignore the source of revenue from 'professional' reviewers. How can someone be fair when their meal was comped and they were treated with preferential service?

-----

Yep, you nailed it. It's the same in LA.
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9/17/2010 Danielle "Nellie" B. says:
Mijune, you are the one I was referring to in my post. :) I've always enjoyed reading your reviews and find them to be very informative. Keep up the good work!
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9/17/2010 Ryan "Foodoofus" M. says:
Danielle: I can definitely agree to that.

Even in the case of Yelp (bias reviews) be it COMP'd or Preferential Service can also happen in places you frequent (or are personally friends of). In this case, since my early days I've taken more responsibility to specify what is I'm reviewing, as well as the circumstances for which the meal (or service) was provided in, given the time of experience.

I think the other frustrating part about reading on professional reviewers (and food bloggers) is the ridiculously high criticism of a dish (or set of dishes). Without actually attempting to cook said dishes or being familiar with the background of that cuisine. Sure, they must have tried it a hundred (or thousand fold) in the course of their culinary careers. But have they actually sat behind the oven and slave away a few hours here and there to prepare said dishes? This is what I also question at times.
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9/17/2010 Richard W. says:
@Alex quite fascinating to learn about your attack against me for my restaurant reviews. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but to accuse someone of a positive review over a negative review is simply ridiculous. I never asked you to read by reviews or to follow me on twitter you have obviously done that on your own accord. In the case of Vancouver there are thousands of restaurants, have you seen me write about every restaurant on my site? The answer is I haven't, as much as they are some great restaurants in this city there are also many who shouldn't be cooking and serving food to the public, it is not my job to check their kitchens I will leave that up to the Health Inspectors. If I don't like a restaurant then I don't write about them.

I see that you have written many yelp reviews and have your own food blog http://theeggandspoon..../ curious as to why you don't show your face here on yelp or on your blog, why is your identity hidden? Rather than complaining about me and about other Media/Bloggers in the city who take the time to visit a restaurant, taste the food and write about the experience why don't you put some effort into your own blog since you haven't written a blog post in over 8 months.
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9/17/2010 Sonya "Here to promote Wal-Mart" R. says:
I have no problem with anonymity, Richard. I have recently removed my real photo because it made me uncomfortable to write reviews, thinking I could get recognized. I recently read an article in WE that listed this as a must for successful food bloggers - it helps the writer stay objective and humble, too. People have different opinions on this. That is mine. I make no judgments on people who believe in providing real photos.

I believe people should be allowed to make this decision on their own and their choice respected. From my point of view, I don't like reviews to be based around the narrative of the writer's life. I want it to be about the information he/she provides. If there is substance, you will see anonymity is not a factor in the quality of someone's writing. Yelp is complicated in that sense. You want community but you also want to write about food as an objective thinker.
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9/17/2010 Darina K. says:
As a Vancouver food blogger, I'm adding my two cents. My blog mostly focuses on cooking and essays, but I do some restaurant reviews. When I began adding reviews to my site, I decided that I would only post reviews on restaurants that I actually liked, as I don't believe in putting that kind of negativity out there. I am not a critic and I don't purport to be one. Plus, to review a meal as a critic would, I feel that one needs to try a place a few times before making a decision and there are too many great restaurants in Vancouver for me to keep going back to the same ones. I approach each meal as a customer and share my thoughts in that vein. I know many of my fellow bloggers feel the same way I do. If we think we have gotten preferential treatment because it's obvious that we are bloggers, we say so in our blog posts and take it into consideration when we are writing our posts. As for blogging itself, I find that it's a lot of hard work. I do it because I'm passionate about food, not for any "freebies" that might come my way (they rarely ever do). I think most of my foodie friends would agree with me on that. Also, I studied writing at the graduate level and have sold some articles. I can hardly be called a hack. So please, don't paint us all with the same brush. http://gratineeblog.com/
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9/18/2010 Ching T. says:
Darina, I'm glad you added your 2 cents. I don't think one requires an advanced degree and selling articles to qualify oneself. It's good that you added your blog site for us to visit. I think nowadays, every John Harry and Dick are "food reviewers/critics" now with yelping, chowhound, etc sites out there along with blogs galore. I think it creates a wonderful landscape of resources for food lovers everywhere. We can all obviously read and decipher for ourselves whether to trust the writer or not. Food is all subjective anyway.
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9/18/2010 Christine K. says:
I look at blogs like I look at reviews here or any other review board. I take them ALL with a grain of salt. Some of my foodies, that I honour with their opinions, still don't decide where I'm going to eat! Food is subjective and I respect all people's thoughts, but they don't rule me. I respect the time bloggers put into their reviews and pictures and for their love of food. In the end, I'm going to decide on my own where I'm going to go to eat. Whether I like the food, remains to be seen, by me.
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9/18/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Richard thanks for jumping on here and adding your opinion. My 'attack' as you called it was based around your 'reviews' where you position yourself as a food blogger giving an opinion, when your business as you state on your personal website would make these same businesses your clients or prospective clients. I find that grossly misleading as people may choose to value your opinion on a resaurant as an objective 'critic' of sorts when in reality your business would prevent you from ever putting to print any real critique into words as it would negatively impact your business. The fact that you do not disclose this is what I was referring to. I think that is total BS that if you don't like a restaurant you don't write about them. I believe that your business is a social media marketer for hire and if a restaurant was paying you to work with them you would not hesitate to write a positive review or at least hold back any crittique. Your reviews read like advertorials but with no disclaimer. You are a marketer masquarading as a journalist and I think that is a valid point. I see you also copped a similar comment from Mainly Main on Twitter about your lack of critique so maybe I am not alone on this either.

What you do is your business and I follow you and others so I use you and others as a news source but I place about as much weight in your reviews as I do late night ads for slap chop. No idea about your tangent to do with food safety or why that is relevant.

Me not showing my face is actually a joke based around a requirement on this site to show your face on your profile and I couldn't care less if people knew what I looked like. I go to plenty of Yelp events with face for all to see.

What is perhaps the biggest irony of your whole post was that you clearly can't take criticism about not giving criticism.

Thanks for the tip on my blog, maybe I should start it up again. I hear you can make money by telling everyone how great they are and taking money for your compliments. This was never meant to be a character assasination just an eye opener for people who may have thought you were writing your reviews as a foodie and not as a social media marketer for hire. I singled you out because you were the most obvious target.

Don't even try and question my commitment to food, drink and the hospitality industry as for the last 12 years while you were 'selling specialised advertising' I was working in bars and restaurants and using every cent I had to travel eat and drink around the world.

I will see you around somewhere I am sure, I will be the guy in the mask of course.
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9/18/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Mijune P I know you do and you seem like on of the good guys er...gals

@Darina my apologies the title of the post was more to draw peoples attention. I know there are plenty of bloggers out there who do not fall anywhere near this category.
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9/18/2010 Richard W. says:
One thing about http://VancouverFoodst... - we will not accept any restaurant who wants to advertise on the site. That is where things get questionable, if I accept their paying to advertise then I may end up couching reviews which I do not do. There are many other blogs/online magazines that do this on a regular basis sites such as the Vancouver Sun, Scout Magazine, Urban Diner, Eat Magazine and so many more accept restaurants as paid advertisers. So instead of going after me for my reviews perhaps these are the others you should direct your comments too.

@Alex hiding behind a mask on sites outside of Yelp that you write for is where things get questionable, I say if you are the voice for your blog your photo should be on the blog for people to see who you are.
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9/18/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Richard do you not have clients that are restaurants? Regardless of the ads on the site Can you say outright that you have never received money from a bar or restaurant from marketing or other services? Can you also deny that you have never received money or any other kick back from a restaurant or bar that you have reviewed on your site?

@Richard why are you so obsessed with this photo thing? Seriously, no one cares what blogger look like. Are you saying that a newspaper article for instance is questionable if the authors face is not alongside it? Where are you pulling this ridiculous line from. If you want to see my face so badly I will put it on Yelp now. It feels kind of weird though you wanting to look at me so bad.
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9/18/2010 Darina K. says:
@Ching T. Thank you. I totally agree with you and @Christine K. Food is subjective and ultimately we can all decide for ourselves what is worthy of our attention when it comes to the information that is out there these days. My goal has always been to write the kind of stories that I like to read. I am happy with a small but loyal following of people who share my tastes.

@Alex Thanks. I have read your responses and get what you're saying. A lot of prominent food writers have had gripes about food bloggers. Due to the nature of the Internet and "self publishing" anyone who has had a meal in a restaurant can portray himself/herself as a food critic.

I kind of like what Anthony Bourdain says, though:

"The more the better! I totally disagree with those still crying: 'They're not experts.' When you're talking about 'is a restaurant good or not?' or 'where should I eat in Saigon?' - if you read enough bloggers, you will arrive at a reasonable consensus. The old system, where you had lions of food criticism - that was totally corrupt and moribund, just one big clusterf**k of the same people at the same restaurants, using the same adjectives. In the old days, all [a restraurant] had to do was co-opt, coerce, bribe, blow or otherwise flatter a small group of powerful food writers."

I suppose this is a bit of a digression.
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9/18/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Darina, I am not sure if you do. I am all for more opinions, just not writing advertorials without disclosure.
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9/18/2010 Darina K. says:
@Alex I absolutely do get it. But I also think you opened up a wider discussion on the nature of blogging in general. Hence the digression on my part--and that of a few others.
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9/18/2010 Christine K. says:
Alex, you're so cute even though you look mad! :-)
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9/18/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Darina sorry it is getting late, I am a big blogger advocate for the record.

@Christine that is my ranting in talk threads face!
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9/18/2010 Sonya "Here to promote Wal-Mart" R. says:
@ Alex - I think now is a good time to mention that your previous pictures scared the sh** out of me. If this is the conclusion of this post, I'm happy. I loved your reviews & comments but always felt uneasy benefiting from the knowledge of John Wayne Gacy and an American psycho bank robber.
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9/18/2010 Alisha M. says:
Alex, first off glad you added a picture and sonya sweety pie its not at all scary. Now to more serious matters. Alex, it's my opinion that you have jumped in and used Vanfoodster as a reference for your point of argument due to his growing popularity. While I understand that, it's just silly since you have not done your homework. I can 100% verify that Richard will never take funds from restaurants for advertising! I can also verify that there have been many occasions where he attends restaurants he is unsure of and critiques them while paying for his meal and if he doesn't like them writes nothing at all.

The philosophy of Vancouver Foodster is to tell you were to dine! NOT were not to dine. :) He has received much positive feedback not only on his writing style but in his ability to have conversations with restaurants to improve the quality YOU as a consumer receive. :) If there is an issue Richard will address it on the spot and give the kitchen time to sort it out before publicly trashing them.

Now being a girl somewhat in the know there may be critics who choose to take money for positive reviews. Vancouver Foodster is not one of them. As much as I love freedom of speech and coming down on soft self-proclaimed critics i have to feel a bit of empathy for you that you don't know what you are talking about. :( poor alex that you chose probably one of the few honest foodies that is truly media accredited and offers suggestions on where we should spend our hard earned dollars instead of those that support crappy service for cash or fame!

This is a great concept and a good angle for gaining attention and venting but to be honest you may want to look at the over 100 food "critics" in Vancouver that are not media accredited, do not actually write reviews based on positive feedback and allow their "votes" to be purchased. :) Because you are right they very much do exist! Vancouver Foodster just isn't one of them, not even a little bit!

Spend a little bit more time doing your homework my friend and come back to the table with something a bit more tangible in the future and you will have far more support. Vancouver in general has a heck of a lot of "soft" media that ride a fine line and even more bloggers that have no background, no experience and absolutely no idea what they are writing! Welcome to 2010! As you critique them keep in mind the following:

what do they claim to do?
why do people follow them?
what do they offer our community?

Vancouver Foodster does NOT claim to critique restaurants, only to give you a guide to where he appreciates dining and why.

Lots of people follow him because they TRUST him and because they appreciate his suggestions. He has repeat followers and great stats because he tells you what's good!

He helps to build a dining community by offering supportive comments and not reporting on anything he doesn"t believe in!

Negative feedback while sometimes amusing does not tell you where to eat!
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9/18/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Alisha I am sorry but you are wrong on a couple of points and frankly perhaps you should read my posts again as you have missed the point. I never said that Richard was taking money to write positive reviews, my issue is that as restaurants are his clients it prevents him from being objective and that he fails to disclose this. Basic journalistic ethics make this a huge conflict yet in the internet realm this is not seen as something which needs to be diclosed.

Also I am not 'your friend' but thanks for the condescending tone. Maybe you can answer me this since you are so 'in the know'. Does Richard receive money or any other forms of reparation from restaurants and bars for ANY type of services. The answer is YES as he clearly states that he provides marketing services to them on his Richard Wolak website. I didn't say they are paying him to write positive reviews like you were so quick to imply I said that as they were his clients he should be disclosing this.

You are also wrong about Vanfoodster not being a critic. If you go back and read his reviews he clearly offers a first person opinion of a restaurant which does make him a critic. A first person review of a restaurant where you clearly state an opinion makes you a critic.

My point exactly about people following him is that they should be aware of the conflict of interest and disclose that restaurants are his clients and that he receives money from them for ANY services. If you don't understand how that is an issue then I am sure my point is falling on your deaf ears. I do actually have a lot of support as well if you actually read these posts and talked to people. It is fairly obvious that Richard is your friend as well and you are jumping to his defence, it looks like he needs it.

Also how about writing some reviews on this site instead of lurking and not adding anything to the content, just a suggestion.
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9/18/2010 Andrea B. says:
Just registered to reply to this post.

First, a couple of blogs I do read:

Foodosophy - http://foodosophy.word...
Sherman's food Adventures - http://www.shermansfoo.../
Follow Me Foodie - http://www.followmefoo.../
I'm Only Here for the Food! - http://imonlyhereforth.../

I used to read others as well; however, that was until I started to realize what you have written, that of being them being enthusiastic about restaurants, specially when they were invited rather than having the meals paid for. In fact, I find it funny that some of these bloggers listed above bash restaurants for inviting them to such events! So, Alex, that brings to your point: it seems you were generalizing. ;)

To Alisha and Richard, one of the several flaws of your argument is that you are under the assumption that compensation has to necessarily be in the form of monetary compensation. For example, you can get meals in-lieu or other similar special privileges. In fact, writing about a special event like a grand opening which you were invited but you did not pay for, it creates some buzz, which, from the restaurant's perspective, is all they want. To paraphrase a blogger, the publicity that can be generated by these bloggers far outweights the cost of inviting them. The question is whether that is representative of what a normal customer would get - in my personal experience, it has never been the case: the food and service was subpar.
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9/18/2010 F G. says:
Ching T. says:

Johnson "East Van J" C. says:

Agreed - I think a lot of people ignore the source of revenue from 'professional' reviewers. How can someone be fair when their meal was comped and they were treated with preferential service?

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Yep, you nailed it. It's the same in LA.
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Fyi, a pro newspaper reviewer, still the ones with the clout, take great pains to go anonymously and pay for themselves via their company.
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9/19/2010 Ching T. says:
@ FG, I didn't know that about pro newspaper reviewers. Thanks!

Wow, I love how this thread brought in so many viewpoints. Good to hear from you Richard and Andrea.
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9/19/2010 Mijune P. says:
Hi again! I don't want to fuel the fire... but just add some things :)

@Danielle "Nellie" B: Lol! I read your comment and thought... hey that would be cool if she was referring to me because that sure sounds like me! And it was! Thanks for reading!

@Alex and @Andrea B.: Thanks for reading!

PS: I will only accept "media" invites or restaurant invitations providing that there are no expectations from the restaurant and that I can be completely honest in my post. Of course I disclose this in all my posts as well.

An example of a media dinner I attended and how I write on it: http://www.followmefoo...
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9/19/2010 Vince "The Dragon" V. says:
^ good choice
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9/19/2010 Ching T. says:
this is a great, great discussion!!
9/19/2010

This Yelper's account has been closed.
9/19/2010

This Yelper's account has been closed.
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9/20/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
@Alisha and everyone else. I don't really want to continue this thread but I stumbled upon some intersting info in regards to Alisha who felt the need to jump on a defend Richard's honor.

Interesting Alisha that you are defending Richard but fail to ever mention your relationship with him.

Vanfoodster is a client of your company is he not? http://www.amventures....

You offer PR and events services so are you in fact Vanfoodsters PR agent?

Yes, you obviously are a highly credible source.

Also on Vancouver Foodster not being a crittique I suggest you get it straight from the horses mouth that he is.

http://www.youtube.com...

I believe the line that Richard says himself is:

"RIchard Wolak, food writer, reviewer, crittic...."
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9/20/2010 Alex "Return of the Mack" D. says:
oh and @Andrea.

I was generalising to make a point and I do realise that this was unfair to many bloggers who don't fit this stereotype.
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9/22/2010 Vince "The Dragon" V. says:
Steve, that is great looking chocolate on your page.
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9/26/2010 Michael "glutton" S. says:
The whole food blogging thing is about being a whore... and then talking about ones whoring experience afterwards with a post-coital glow, as if every john screwed was a Casanova.

In most cases these people are egotists who will sell themselves for just a free bit of food, a night's entertainment, a stroke of the ego as they are greeted at the door by their first name. It's all about morsels of free biscuit, self-congratulating hand jobs, with the promises of spreading positive shite in return.

Most bloggers don't post negative reviews because they don't want to upset the restaurateurs and/or the restaurant's publicists. One can't bite the hand that feeds. If so, there is no more free lunch. It stands to reason that food bloggers use their feeble excuse, "I am objective, I don't post reviews if the meal aren't worthy."

A person that aspires to be a true food critic, something close to being called a professional, has to be anonymous in their restaurant review excursions. Otherwise by default the food offerer-critic relationship is in a conflict of interest and the whole thing isn't worth the digital zeroes and ones that clog up our bandwidth. Being anonymous means having to accept the cost of the restaurant meal if they arent employed to review (lol), but of course that is completely out of the question!

Flood bloggers that aren't anonymous are spam agents, and dumb ones at that. Most people that spam are clever enough to have their computer programs do the disseminating. Food bloggers on the other hand put their egos and guts first, thereby spending enormous amounts of time wasting their time as they waste other people's time.

Restaurant publicist are in a tenuous position in which they have to show their clients that they have garnished some attention in order for there employment to continue. It's a pity that they have to accommodate every schmuck that claims to have "x" amount of hits. The restaurant industry is so competitive and cutthroat, they have little choice but to begrudgingly look to see what the cat has dragged in, and then leave it at that.

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