In just a few short days I will take a nearly two-month hiatus from blogging LA's food scene. I will be traveling to different areas of Asia, which I will be covering on my blog given sufficient internet access along the journey. Before then, I wanted to take some time to think about, and discuss, the scene of LA food blogs.
2009 has been a benchmark year for restaurant bloggers. Those wielding cameras and keyboards, reviewing places new and old, don greater power than ever, as Internet readers crave different personalities behind blogs and the immediacy of reviews vis-a-vis traditional print media such as the LA Times. Though aggregately, bloggers still do not have the influence of someone like S. Irene Virbila of the Times, publicists, restaurateurs, and chefs are beginning to realize that blogs can be very useful for letting the public know about their restaurants.
Over the past year, I've been involved in dozens of sponsored meals, meals that are paid for by the restaurant and which restaurants are fully aware that I am there to review the place. I'm not going to lie and say that it's been the least bit arduous or difficult. I'm quite at fault for gloating to my non-foodie friends that I've received such special attention.
Last week, members of the media, or rather, journalists, gathered at Redwood Bar in Downtown to meet with Russ Parsons, editor of the LA Times Food Section. Though I wasn't there for the festivities, I did hear that the subject of restaurant reviews from non-objective sources, namely bloggers and other food media, whose presence is well known to the host restaurants, was highly contentious and a critical matter of discourse for the night's attendees.
As I go on a break from the LA restaurant scene, I can't help but wonder if what we bloggers are doing is really sustainable. Can we continue to get these free meals, or perhaps even paid meals but still well within the awareness of restaurants (as in, they know who we are), and retain the trust and credibility of readers? I have my doubts that it can.
The problem is that we, like anyone, love special attention and more importantly, free food. We can't have a large organization like the Times pay for our meals, but we still want to share our restaurant experiences. We love to swoon about how we received free appetizers, a staggering plate of foie gras (gratis), or endless rounds of expertly made cocktails. We love shaking hands with the chef or maitre'd and commend them for their outstanding work. Eventually the restaurant-going public is going to catch on that we're possibly as reliable (or rather unreliable) as..Zagat..or worse Yelp or Chowhound.
Despite this, I find that blogs are more reliable than those other three methods of collecting information about restaurants because they are overt. Photos show arrangement of food, freshness of produce, cleanliness of the table whereas an objective number from Zagat reveals little about the details of a restaurant. I can see if the meat was seared properly, if the pizza had a nice blackened crust from the wood fire, or whether the cocktail had the right proportions. It's also more enjoyable reading about restaurants through blogs because reviews tend to be in the chronological order of a meal instead of helter-skelter experiences from multiple visits.
The public is free to judge the quality of one's opinion based on the source of the information, but blogs have this approachability about them that someone like Virbila or Patric Kuh of LA Magazine or even Jonathan Gold (as public as his visage may be) cannot attribute to themselves. I can go out and email a fellow blogger and meet them face to face. I can talk to them personally about how they view food and how they review restaurants. I can judge whether I trust their palate and observations. There are many blogs that I do NOT read because of such conclusions (I won't name them).
As readership increases, as bloggers realize they can capitalize their time and money from advertisers (or rather agents) such as FoodBuzz, restaurants see the opportunity to fight back against the anonymous (for the most part) restaurant critic or the vicious, anonymous Chowhounder or Yelper. Restaurants can somehow bank more on the positive review from a blogger.
So the rat race will continue. Bloggers will scramble for precious media offers to visit restaurants. Even this past week, I was part of a dinner where a fellow blogger was invited to "try" the food and eventually review the restaurant. What are my feelings about this? Well, I don't have as much compunction because the meal turned out to be a fantastic experience, though this might be a credit to the kitchen's main effort brought to our table. It's harder to dole out such a wonderful experiences in sets of 100 or 150 or even 200 covers a night, with the chaos of a hectic stove, crush of guests at rush hour, and frantic waitstaff.
Does it mean I won't continue to read these reviews? Well, if they're by people I know and trust, then I'll still regard them with a level of credibility. However, I won't pretend that these sort of experiences are likely to be repeated by the public. I'll hope that restaurants will retain their commitment to excellence despite positive reviews by bloggers, but what's to hold them accountable?
In the purview of the LA restaurant scene, there are only so many mouths to feed and so many wallets to open, so restaurants are vying for attention. Getting bloggers to bring out the masses is a cheap and perhaps effective way to do so. But ultimately, restaurants will sustain their businesses by offering a superior product in a niche which appeals to consumers. Nothing can replace quality, from a 4-star review from the Times or a layout of delicious food photos and beautiful food writing on a top-notch blog.
Note: If you're a food blogger (restaurant blogger, proper) and you're reading this, don't be an ass and neglect to tip your server, even if you get a free meal. Shoot, tip them an extra 10% (on top the 20% you SHOULD be tipping) if your meal was comped. It's the least you could do. I can imagine the disdain from servers who end up serving bloggers who don't tip close to the full cost of the meal.
13 comments:
What a brilliant post, Matt. Loved reading your take and also glad for the clarification regarding restaurant food bloggers. As an established food blogger I do not review restaurants and rarely cover then so I feel that many of these issues go under my radar. I think as long as restaurant food bloggers like you continue with ethics, transparency and intelligence we'll be a-ok. Unfortunately not everyone has your standards though.
Can't wait to hear all about Asia!
I wish I got free meals.
There's only a handful of you guys who do. Your post is rather misleading in that you make it sound like all bloggers are getting comped meals all the time.
Not true.
For the vast majority of us, your article is completely N/A.
I blog for fun. I blog to keep a record of what I do. I blog to stay in touch with friends near and far. That I happen to write a great deal about what I eat is happy coincidence.
Rarely do I wax poetic about the woodsy notes in a wine, nor do I believe anything I write is brilliant prose. If I like something, I say it's yummy.
Hardly Pulitzer prize-winning stuff.
Your post contains a big incorrect assumption that food bloggers are out there scrambling for or being thrown freebies and thus their reviews cannot be trusted. If anything, more often than not, "non-prominent" food bloggers are simply chronicling their meals for their own enjoyment and the enjoyment of family and friends, not for public consumption.
The common food blogger who gets a meager number of hits every day encounters none of the issues you've described.
I know because I'm that food blogger.
mattatouille said...
Matt, I agree that we do need to continue to do what we do with ethics.
Weezermonkey: I guess I should have further clarified (as I did in the first section) that this type of food blogger is the restaurant blogger. While perhaps a majority of the food blogging scene doesn't necessarily get free meals, it's still compelling to think about the portion that does, the portion that covers the scene with news and fresh reviews of restaurants that the public wants to read. It's evident that restaurant owners have responded to the effect that bloggers can make and the consequences have been drastic over the past year.
Though many food blogs don't enjoy this type of notoriety and benefit, I think a significant number still do. Looking at Digesty, a listing of many popular LA food blogs, over 30 of them are either actively or periodically reviewing restaurants. That's not a small number, and there are even more blogs that are not on the listing. On my blogroll alone, there are 18 blogs that actively cover LA restaurants. With organizations like FoodDigger searching for good content, I'd say that almost every one of these blogs have enjoyed a free meal to a certain extent. If it hasn't happened for you yet, just keep reviewing restaurants and the PR firms will catch on.
I love to blog! LOVE IT. It's my creative outlet. When I go a few days without, I feel this intense pull not unlike a craving. The fact that I get some freebies every so often is just gravy. It could all end today and I'd still be cranking out posts day after day.
And YES, bloggers, please please please tip when you're dining on someone else's dime. It's poor form not to.
For a while I was bummed that I wasn't being included in any of the free media events, but now that I've been to a few, I'm not sure it's really my thing. It kind of takes the fun out of blogging when it feels more like a duty. I blog for myself, not because I'm hoping to score a free meal. That said, I won't necessarily say "no" when a restaurant or PR company invites me to a meal. Free food is free food. But I do prefer writing about the experiences I have when dining at a restaurant just like any other Joe Schmo.
I agreed with Diana, freebies and special perks aren't necessarily great since there's the implicit pressure of blogging it soon and blogging it in a positive light (even though I already tend blog just about places I like already, there's definitely a difference between "I want to blog about it" vs. "I have to blog about it")
And if free meals do stop coming in, I'll probably still keep on blogging (just like I did before I became "popular" -- a term I definitely wouldn't use to describe myself,) I probably wouldn't be able to check out as many hot and trendy (and spendy!) places, but I also wouldn't have work out as hard to stay in shape either, 'cause those freebies are definitely not low-anything! :P
I really started blogging just to share and catalog my foodie thoughts and to meet & compare notes with like-minded folks and as a recreational hobby, so I really didn't care (let alone brag & gloat about) driving traffic, being well-known in the circuit, etc.
But yeah, even in the "wild wild west" world of blogging -- it's still fairly easy and obvious to tell the good quality blogs from the bad; or to use a foodie analogy, the proof is in the pudding ;)
great insight Matt.
Totally agree with the majority consensus of how going to a P.R dinner kinda stifles the otherwise naturally-occurring inspiration that comes by just stepping out and having a legit bite.
I myself will always never say no to a 'comped' anything.
Recently, comped meals have been about 90% of my restaurant blogging. But that is TEENAGE GLUTSTER, a blog with the angle of a jobless, coming of aging dude who would otherwise never be able to experience almost nothing that is on the blog.
Nonetheless, ethics are enforced 100%
to future foodblogging...cheers!
Matt,
You touch on a lot of interesting points, but it's impossible to cover this topic in a single post. When writing about free meals, full disclosure is key. It's important to specify that a meal was free or a media dinner. Otherwise, that could cut into a blogger's credibility. Also, just because the meal's free doesn't mean a blogger is obligated to write something positive, or even to post at all. There are several media meals I've attended that I'll never write about for a number of reasons, and that's okay.
My primary reason for attending media dinners or events is to learn. Given my limited budget, some of these experiences wouldn't be possible otherwise.
My biggest point of contention is that "Bloggers will scramble for precious media offers to visit restaurants." At this point, I'm lucky enough to get invited to media events or free meals on a regular basis, but I'm not out hunting for freebies, and I don't know many bloggers who do that.
Great point about tipping during free meals. If a publicist is present during these meals, they typically cover the tip, but if they're not there, my general rule is to double the tip. If you're unsure, ask the publicist so you can make sure your server is compensated for their efforts.
cathy: yes, I didn't mention that many, if not most people, blog because they really enjoy it. That goes for myself as well. That's an important aspect.
diana: it can be a little disconcerting to hear about all of these free meals to other bloggers, only to be left out, but I think you have the right mindset by continuing to blog because you enjoy it, not because you want the perks. but in the end, who does want perks?
HC: I think you're right in that the deciphering the good blogs from the bad can be a fairly simple exercise, but because it's so easy to start a new one, readers always have to be on the lookout. It's also our job and privilege to continue to refine and improve our content to differentiate ourselves from the pack.
Great, very intriguing post.
As a food and drinks blogger, I don't accept free meals and routinely ignore invitations to tasting or press events. I don't want to be known and I want to form my own impressions.
My only exception is that I will accept sample products in the mail (mostly spirits and chocolate). I rationalize this by telling myself that (1) it's industry standard in the world of drinks reviewing; and (2) you can't alter a packaged product the way you can a restaurant meal so what I'm getting reflects what anyone else will buy in the store. I don't review everything that I get samples for and I don't give everything positive reviews (I have a published policy on this).
First of all, I agree, it's important to tip your servers whether the meal was free or not!
In regards to attending a media or blogger event hosted by the restaurant. There is pressure of not writing a negative review, but I'll try to at least point out the hightlights of the meal. In the end, I just write for fun, while these free meals might be awesome perks, I'd still be writing without such perks. Agreed with HC and Diana, there is pressure of blogging the media events quickly and thus, putting more of the stuff I want to blog into the back log.....
interesting discourse, especially in the comments. i'm on the outside looking for the most part (food/resto blogger groupie?). if anything, i feel 2009 was THE year for restaurant blogging. i've followed a number of blogs over the years, but i've discovered so many more JUST in 2009 (or maybe i'm late?).
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