Happy Plates
- Phyllis Flick warns that diners who aren’t interested in the provenance of their food might not “get” Vivant (what’s not to get about that foie gras, I ask?), but Pierre Jancou’s “well-prepared cuisine using only exceptional products” leaves her “delighted,” in spite of the high price tag. “These sorts of ingredients don’t come cheaply,” she reminds us. [Paris Notebook]
- After a 40€ lunch of “perfectly cooked” asparagus and “impeccable” almond-crusted hake, Caroline Mignot is far more enthusiastic about Le Mini Palais than she was about yesterday’s similarly priced lunch at L’Hédoniste. Why? Because there is “un service pro, une lumière, de l’air et une harmonie dans l’ensemble…” [Table à Découvert]
Hells No
- A return trip to Le Petit Colbert has left Talbott unimpressed. The duck confit was “not as crisp-skinned nor inside-tasty,” potatoes were “neither garlicky nor crisp enough,” and the baba was “standard at best“. Meh. [John Talbott's Paris]
Sweet Teeth
- Adam calls Ladurée’s tarte tatin an “oozing she-beast” with “Quasimodo aesthetics,” but reluctantly confesses to eating several this past week. Embarrassed to be seen with your new girlfriend, Adam? [Paris Pâtisseries]
From our Guide (royal wedding version)
- If you’re feeling royalist after this morning’s big event (we’ve been watching avidly from the PbM headquarters — wtf, Princess Beatrice?!), put on your fascinators and head to Le Bal Café for a proper English breakfast, welsh rarebit and posset, or tea and scones at Bread & Roses.
4 Responses to The Daily Bite: Flick gets Vivant, Mignot likes Le Mini
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Maybe Mignot prefers Le Mini because she was invited to a press lunch?
Ok Chrisos, if you really want to open that can of worms…
What’s your own policy on accepting press/blogger invitations to restaurants? It’s not uncommon for writers to receive these sort of invitations, so how should we respond?
- Should we decline and always pay our own meals? Very few publications pay for expenses anymore.
- Should we accept but disclose in our writing that we were invited and didn’t pay?
- Should readers just leave it up to us to use our own best judgement?
And what about exchanges that aren’t monetary but might influence our judgement, like your friendship with Arthur/L’Hedoniste? I don’t know a single writer who hasn’t become friends in the process with some of the people making food, and it absolutely influences our opinion. Then again, distance and “objectivity” don’t necessarily lead to great (informative, entertaining) stories.
I’m asking not because I think that you or Caroline are doing anything wrong, but because I see a huge variation in practices among writers (between French vs. Anglo, between traditional and online media, between professional critics and amateur bloggers), and I’m genuinely interested in what you (and our readers) think we should be doing.
(also, for the record, I have no idea what Caroline does or whether she paid for this meal, so my comments should not be interpreted as a critique of her review or practices)
Et moi, vous me renvoyez surtout à l’idée que mon anglais est très moyen, que je ne comprends pas toutes les nuances de vos propos et que je ne suis pas sûre de pouvoir répondre en anglais. Aussi, je me lance en français avec un léger sentiment de honte qui plane sur mon niveau d’anglais, mais pas sur mon intégrité. J’ai ma façon de travailler que je ne vais pas commencer à justifier, je fais ce métier depuis suffisamment longtemps pour ne pas laisser influencer mon opinion selon qu’on m’invite (le restaurateur, les amis, le compagnon…) ou non. Et après tout, que dire si c’est le journal qui défraie ? Dans ce cas aussi, on peut considérer que l’addition est payée par autrui et se sentir déresponsabilisé de l’acte de payer (un peu comme chez le psy, non ? Il faut payer pour se sentir investi ^_^) ? Comme je l’ai dit à l’occasion de mon anniversaire de blog (ses 5 ans !), je fais le distinguo entre mon travail de journaliste (pas critique, mais journaliste gastronomique), d’auteur de guide (à une époque) et mon activité de blogueuse qui prend du plaisir avec ses photos, ses récits. Ce n’est pas un blog de critique, les lecteurs auraient sinon droit au compte rendu détaillé que j’ai fait il y a longtemps pour des guides et croyez moi, ce n’est pas très vivifiant. Bref, c’est un recueil d’impressions, de sensations, mais pas une critique et c’est encore moins exhaustif. J’essaie d’être au plus près de la réalité, mais il y a aussi du sentiment, de l’anecdotique, au lecteur de choisir ou non de se sentir attiré.
Pour répondre au cas précis du Mini Palais, j’y suis allée plusieurs fois en réglant mon addition et une fois en étant invitée en tête à tête (et non en déjeuner de presse). Mais si vous saviez le nombre de restaurants que je paie de ma poche pour ce blog, vous n’en croiriez pas vos yeux ! Je vous le dis tout net, c’est à perte, mais pas pour vous, ni pour mon plaisir.
Hi Meg, sorry, I replied on facebook, but not here.
Even I have been invited to free lunches or dinners. If it was in places I knew I would not like, I would simply decline and that’s it.
When I accept such invitation (never directly from a chef or restaurant owner, always through an attaché de presse or responsable de communication), I always mention it in my article. This must account for less than 1% of the articles on my blog.
About Arthur at l’Hédoniste, I wrote here (http://chrisoscope.com/2010/12/06/lhedoniste-hit-en-stock/) “l’Ami Arthur”, and I do not hide that I know him and appreciate him. I returned to his restaurant, but did not write on every meal there!
Everyone is free to choose what (s)he thinks is the best conduct. I think it is always important to say who paid (me, my wife, my parents, my brother, my sister, colleagues, friends, job, Daniel Rose, Guy Martin, Albert Nahmias, or if this was organized to promote a restaurant). It is also important to say if anyone anonymous would be entitled to the same favours and attention as you received, or if you had a special treatment…
The reader has the right to know.
As you said, this is a very human thing, and sometimes a new place can get negative critics because their attaché de presse is an idiot, or because he/she did not invite the “important” (so called) ones first.
It can sometimes be even more embarassing/hard to write anything good on a place you did not like, but had to go because it was chosen by a friend/ relative or colleague. So I do not agree when someone says that being invited and nicely treated does not affect your judgement.
And it’s also not the same if you have to go somewhere because it’s your job and someone pays you to go eat at pierre jancou’s latest restaurant, or if your meal here is your choice.
I do not have these problems anymore, as I don’t have much time to go to restaurants as often as before, and, even more, I have almost no time to write on a regular basis!