Posts Tagged ‘guide’

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Stars In Their Eyes

Once again Michelin has found itself plunged into direst controversy over the recent news that celebrated Aussie chef Skye Gyngell has left her much-acclaimed quirky restaurant at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond because of the ‘Michelin curse’ brought about by her deserved star rating. She claims that customer expectations rocketed to unreasonable levels and complaints have soared – not, let it be noted, about the food, but about the rickety tables, the outside toilets and the greenhouse surroundings; ie, customers expecting the intimated level of opulence evoked by a star rating were disappointed at the ‘au naturel’ surroundings of a working plant nursery. It seems that Michelin ratings bring with them a certain level of customer expectation; the organisation has educated – indoctrinated – the once-naive customer to such an extent, the centre doesn’t hold when the framework is not adhered to. Read full post

No Kidding

There can be little else more trying to the gastronome’s nerves than the sound of shrieking children ricocheting off the walls of a favourite restaurant. Badly-behaved brats can ruin your well-earned meal out, but what’s the form when it comes to letting your displeasure be known?

Restaurants could take matters into their own hands: Last year Olde Salty, a restaurant in N. Carolina, banned children outright – ‘Screaming children will not be tolerated’ is their hard line and they have reportedly seen a rise in custom to compensate for the undoubtedly peeved families taking theirs elsewhere. Read full post

Points Of View

Everyone’s a critic, so the saying goes and in the foodie world, that’s certainly never been more true. With the now-established world of food blogging, Twitter and the like, no-one need ever let a bad meal go uncriticised or a good one praised. Just log on, select your restaurant of choice and it’s guaranteed someone, somewhere will have a point of view on it.

Times have changed since Egon Ronay, who’s sadly critiqued his last meal, first started. The story goes that when he first arrived in England at Victoria Station in the 1940s, his very first experience of good old British hospitality was on buying a cup of tea and discovering the spoon to stir it with was both communal and tied to the counter to guard against those pesky cutlery thieves. So outraged was he by the quality of post-war food here that he set up his own restaurant, then went on to found the eponymous guide which changed the eating habits of restaurant-goers nationwide, giving diners a heretofore undiscovered voice against the establishment. Gone (or are they?) are the days when diners were worried of ‘making a scene’ and being patronised by the wine waiter. Read full post

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