I n these times of portals such as Zomato and TripAdvisor, everyone is a critic. And, they are going to town on the digital platform with their opinions. “With this kind of access, if you’re unhappy with your food or annoyed with the service, you end up writing about it. People feel entitled. They want to be treated like a star. I remember reading a review where one man was angry because he wanted to enter a bar with a protein shaker filled with alcohol. But, with so many reviews flooding online portals, what defines a good review?” asked Shonali Muthalaly, food critic and moderator of the session ‘Everyone is a critic’.
Featuring columnist and author Anoothi Vishal; former model, contestant of MasterChef Australia Season Six and restaurateur Sarah Todd; and Gauri Devidayal, a chartered accountant who changed tracks and started The Table, a plush restaurant in Mumbai, the hour-long discussion looked at what restaurant owners go through while setting up a unit, how they deal with critics and how journalists and bloggers review.
“The basic things a piece of writing should have is what, who, where, how and when. In addition, you need freshness in perspective, an engaging tone and a credible voice. There are reviews that say it was the best gulab jamun ever or the dosa was yummy... all these adjectives should be banned in food writing. You need to evoke the whole meal experience for the reader. And, when you say something didn’t work out, you need to say why it didn’t and what was missing,” says Vishal, who started food writing 15 years ago. Back then, her editor thought food was half a beat. Soon, the restaurant boom happened. “Now, there are so many people writing reviews on the digital platform. But the freshness and rigour brought to the business of reviewing has gone missing,” she adds.
Todd’s restaurant Antares in Goa is a little over a year old. She’s getting used to reviews, but says some really leave her confused. “There’s an Australian dish called Surf Turf on my menu. One day, the dish had a review that said it was the best Surf Turf, and two reviews later, another person posted saying it was the worst they’d tasted. But, none said why it was good or bad,” she says, sounding baffled.
Devidayal understands the travails that go into running a place and says, “You’re not going to be able to please everyone.” She adds, “From answering calls and taking reservations to housekeeping, we do everything it takes, and that’s why I guess we take it personally when a review slants towards criticism.” Both Todd and Devidayal have someone pore over the reviews of their restaurants and break it down for them.
The session also focussed on whether restaurants and hotels should pander to bloggers and people with a large following on social media, how much of client feedback restaurant owners should take into consideration, and whether critics and restaurateurs be friends...
The olden-day critics were high maintenance; now, it’s the bloggers. Some demand a free night’s stay, some want discounts on meals and threaten to give a bad review. “There is a concern on how corrupt it is becoming,” says Muthalaly, and adds, “In journalism college, we were taught you cannot take more than a glass of water from anybody.”
In response, Vishal says, “Ultimately, intent is important. Why are you interested in writing about food? Are you doing it for freebies or for the love of writing? If you do things with the right intent, people respect your opinion.”
