04.07.08
I disagree with Joël Robuchon
I noticed this article on Eater.com (LA), and these are my two cents about it. I want to say first that his L’Atelier is one of my favorite restaurants in New York, although I probably can’t afford to go back any time soon. Also, I imagine that his feeling about ignorant people criticizing him is probably akin to how I feel when tone-deaf dummies try to tell me things about music, so I do see and sympathize with where he’s coming from.
“John Curtas: What is your opinion of food/restaurant bloggers and the impact they have on the dining-out public?
“Joël Robuchon: They can be helpful and they can be dangerous. Dangerous because anyone can write anything, even if they have no training or experience and don’t make any sense. Genuine gastronomic critics bring a lot of experience to the table and you must respect that, but too often the internet can be used as a revenge tool by people who have something against the chef or the restaurant. But the public doesn’t know when a review is being used as a way to ambush a restaurant. Too many restaurant critics these days are like me when I’m criticizing a soccer coach; I might have my opinion, but I don’t know that much.”
It is certainly a danger of the internet that people with axes to grind can keep them safely out of sight behind the anonymity of the web. But I think any review longer than “the food sucks” makes it very difficult to grind that axe without giving yourself away in the details. And for sure, there are plenty of people out there who don’t know much about food. But unless they lack taste buds, does that mean their opinions are worthless? Whether their palates are sophisticated or not, the chef’s aim was to please, and if s/he didn’t, that is a valid reaction.
The soccer coach analogy also doesn’t really hold up for me. Soccer is something a few people play very well, a lot of people follow, and many people don’t know much about it – eating is something everyone does and almost everyone has decided opinions on. If I watch Liverpool lose to Manchester United, and I blame the coach, no one should listen to me, since I have no idea what I’m talking about. Maybe Liverpool made a valiant effort but were overpowered, maybe a few players were not on top form, maybe it was too muddy on the pitch, etc. If, on the other hand, I say the linguine alla vongole was bland, with rubbery clams and too little sauce, those are concrete things that I experienced. To an extent it is my opinion, but it’s not nearly as subjective as my view on a soccer game.
Now, I agree that many people “have no training or experience and don’t make any sense”, but I think there is room for the opinions of more than just gourmands. I started this blog because I got tired of reading esoteric theses yammering on in the impenetrable style of Derrida. I believe that, as a well-educated, curious person, my detailed opinion about the food I eat is useful to someone. If I didn’t like the shrimp, and explain why, I think that might help someone when they’re deciding about a restaurant. I don’t think Chef Robuchon would turn away a table at one of his exorbitantly expensive restaurants on discovering that they were not “true gourmands” under his definition – it is them he is trying to impress, so their opinions still matter.
