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why a restaurant review blog?
May. 6th, 2009 06:42 pmAllow me to introduce myself and tell you un petit peu about moi. I am a woman of a Certain Age, a college graduate, and a lifelong resident of Shasta County. I have no special training in cookery, wine appreciation, or, indeed, writing criticism. I am entirely self-taught, with all my prejudices and opinions intact.
Growing up here in the 1960s, my family never ate anything extraordinary: fried round steak, fried potatoes, canned corn, those biscuits that come in a can that you whack on the kitchen counter, and Jell-O. We drank water in winter and iced tea in summer. We did not keep sodas in the refrigerator at all times. Wine and all spirits were unwelcome in our house because one family member was alcoholic. Going out for Chinese food - Lim's, the Far East Cafe on Pine Street, or the Hong Kong Restaurant on Hilltop Drive - was as exotic as it got.
I was a very picky eater as a child, but as Redding grew and more people moved here from elsewhere, gradually my tastes expanded. I learned to cook by trial and error, buying cookbooks that seemed appealing and following the recipes as best I could with the limited ingredients available to me. As I was exposed to new cuisines, I fell in love with food. Repulsed by my first sniff and taste of cilantro, I keep it in the vegetable drawer constantly now. Wine and other alcohol is on hand in my kitchen. My cookbook collection covers a wall. I enjoy cooking for others, shopping for food, and dining out.
So getting back to the original question: why a restaurant review blog? Simply because there has never been one here. I mean no disrespect to Monsieur Beauchamp, a traveled man of distinguished tastes, but every review he writes, without exception, is glowing. While there is very good food to be found in Shasta County and the environs, there is almost always room for improvement. Writing reviews for a newspaper which lives off the advertising restaurants buy, will not ensure an entirely truthful report. My intent is to dine anonymously, either alone or with a few well-chosen co-conspirators, and review the entire "dining experience," as the unfortunately popular phrase has it. Is it fair to review an entire restaurant by one meal? Yes. They charge by the meal and do not give discounts for unpleasant experiences, though the smarter ones will certainly attempt to compensate diners when things go badly. I have never run a restaurant or been employed at a restaurant, but I have patronized enough of them to know when I'm having a good time and when I am merely having money extracted from me.
Am I qualified to pass judgement on restaurants? No more than anyone else who gets paid for writing food criticism: taste is subjective. As Calvin Trillin wrote, the difference between an authentic chile verde and the unauthentic chile verde he was eating was that he liked the unauthentic version better.
Occasionally I will also write about other food-related subjects and, possibly, some non-food-related subjects as well. Don't expect updates constantly - I don't eat out every day or every week.
Thoughtful and literate comments are welcome.
- Femme de Joie
Growing up here in the 1960s, my family never ate anything extraordinary: fried round steak, fried potatoes, canned corn, those biscuits that come in a can that you whack on the kitchen counter, and Jell-O. We drank water in winter and iced tea in summer. We did not keep sodas in the refrigerator at all times. Wine and all spirits were unwelcome in our house because one family member was alcoholic. Going out for Chinese food - Lim's, the Far East Cafe on Pine Street, or the Hong Kong Restaurant on Hilltop Drive - was as exotic as it got.
I was a very picky eater as a child, but as Redding grew and more people moved here from elsewhere, gradually my tastes expanded. I learned to cook by trial and error, buying cookbooks that seemed appealing and following the recipes as best I could with the limited ingredients available to me. As I was exposed to new cuisines, I fell in love with food. Repulsed by my first sniff and taste of cilantro, I keep it in the vegetable drawer constantly now. Wine and other alcohol is on hand in my kitchen. My cookbook collection covers a wall. I enjoy cooking for others, shopping for food, and dining out.
So getting back to the original question: why a restaurant review blog? Simply because there has never been one here. I mean no disrespect to Monsieur Beauchamp, a traveled man of distinguished tastes, but every review he writes, without exception, is glowing. While there is very good food to be found in Shasta County and the environs, there is almost always room for improvement. Writing reviews for a newspaper which lives off the advertising restaurants buy, will not ensure an entirely truthful report. My intent is to dine anonymously, either alone or with a few well-chosen co-conspirators, and review the entire "dining experience," as the unfortunately popular phrase has it. Is it fair to review an entire restaurant by one meal? Yes. They charge by the meal and do not give discounts for unpleasant experiences, though the smarter ones will certainly attempt to compensate diners when things go badly. I have never run a restaurant or been employed at a restaurant, but I have patronized enough of them to know when I'm having a good time and when I am merely having money extracted from me.
Am I qualified to pass judgement on restaurants? No more than anyone else who gets paid for writing food criticism: taste is subjective. As Calvin Trillin wrote, the difference between an authentic chile verde and the unauthentic chile verde he was eating was that he liked the unauthentic version better.
Occasionally I will also write about other food-related subjects and, possibly, some non-food-related subjects as well. Don't expect updates constantly - I don't eat out every day or every week.
Thoughtful and literate comments are welcome.
- Femme de Joie
