tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134384403689315687.post5435439350368856536..comments2024-02-26T02:53:40.061-05:00Comments on Food Network Musings: Pete Wells’ Review Of Guy Fieri’s Restaurant Sheds More Heat Than LightSuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02284023935180677683noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134384403689315687.post-28725996209347029502012-11-18T12:34:13.286-05:002012-11-18T12:34:13.286-05:00It’s funny, Tom. When I said I could either way on...It’s funny, Tom. When I said I could either way on this whole thing, I really meant it. I don’t disagree with most of what you said and I could definitely take Wells’ point that the entire enterprise is a scam and an assault on the dining public of Times Square. <br /><br />But I hated Wells’ attitude. More than WHAT he said, I disagreed with HOW he said it. He sounded so superior and unpleasant and snotty. (He should be really careful, because isn’t that exactly the type of person that gets his food tampered with in the kitchens of JUST this type of restaurant?) <br /><br />I’m a New York Times reader and, number one, I read the restaurant reviews to find places to actually go to, and, number two, NOT for this type of restaurant. <br /><br />I’m really not a Guy-lover. I hate how he fake-pronounces his name and how half the people do it that way and half don’t. But, like Rachel, I have seen some real skill there – somewhere under all those spikes. I think this whole discussion would have been better on Twitter or as a “piece” in the Huffington post than in a place where people look to find a good place to go for dinner.<br /><br />And, you're right, how could Guy NOT rush to improve what can be improved and FAST!Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02284023935180677683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134384403689315687.post-79090096682155089882012-11-18T12:29:16.534-05:002012-11-18T12:29:16.534-05:00Rachel,
You put it so well. The restaurant is pret...Rachel,<br />You put it so well. The restaurant is pretty bad. Pete Wells has it in for Food Network types and "fast casual” food and everything in between too. And you’re right that Guy has the chops, he just chooses to use his powers not for good, but for evil. It’s all true. <br /><br />I guess the thing that bothered me about the review was that it sounded so personal. There was more than enough to write about as far as the bad food and horrible service. Why not keep it to that? I get that he was so appalled by the whole thing that he couldn’t help himself. <br /><br />But to your point about the review being in the New York Times in the first place – I am a reader of the paper and I go to lousy places sometimes for convenience or whatever, but I don’t look to the New York Times to tell me that even the salads at the Cheesecake Factory could feed a sumo wrestler or the Chicken Stir Fried Whatever at PF Chang’s (which does have unusually good service, I think) is going to make my clothes reek of oil. I want to discover either small, off the beaten track type of restaurants in thoughtful reviews or places that are real investments of time and money. <br /><br />Am I wrong? Of course, even the simplest place should strive for excellence, but Wells was just too gleeful in saying Gotcha! and I really felt the review was as much about him as Guy.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02284023935180677683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134384403689315687.post-72502878649164381522012-11-17T06:05:49.370-05:002012-11-17T06:05:49.370-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17412354083554248615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134384403689315687.post-26958351205654333142012-11-16T12:32:39.160-05:002012-11-16T12:32:39.160-05:00I disagree, Sue, the review absolutely belongs in ...I disagree, Sue, the review absolutely belongs in the food section as legitimate look at a celebrity-owned business that looks to capitalize on the reputation of the owner. Just like it was perfectly OK to have a review of Shake Shack in the food section too. The disdain is perfectly in proportion to Fieri's arrogance in thinking he should be able to coast on his reputation. Did he go on the Today show and say "Wow, the review was a little harsh, but we have to take this kind of criticism seriously -- I take full responsibility, and we'll be doing better right away?" No. He preferred to try and indict the reviewer by innuendo, and brush off legitimate questions about poor customer reviews. Here's my prediction -- he will improve things quickly, and the bad publicity will have Fieri fans flocking en masse to eat there and defend him. Since the place will be better almost immediately (because he's not stupid enough not to take this seriously) he'll be able to say "See, they guy just had it in for me." Commence smirking in three, two, one...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134384403689315687.post-40479127308523894752012-11-16T11:21:06.783-05:002012-11-16T11:21:06.783-05:00Clearly this reviewer did have an agenda. He want...Clearly this reviewer did have an agenda. He wanted to give a big F.U. to both the Food Network and its dumbed down personalities as well as to big-box restaurants. He was giving the finger not just to the restaurant but to Guy, and Sandra, and Rachael, and Applebees, and Friday's, and Olive Garden, and every other purveyor of processed restaurant meals and shortcut cooks. <br /><br /><br />Did the restaurant deserve this? I'm sure many people say it did. Bad food should be called out before people waste their time and money, right? <br /><br />I think it's a foregone conclusion that a restaurant of this size is not going to be good. Mass produced food never is. I don't think the kind of people who would read NY Times food reviews would expect anything great from this type of restaurant. I get the impression that this is not the restaurant for NY-Times-Reading foodies. In fact, it seems there is a backlast among the FN-loving crowd who say, "Let's eat here and give a finger back to the elitists." <br /><br />I do find myself disrespecting Guy for doing this project. His personality annoys me as much as most of the FN cooks do. However, watching his show, I don't think he's a half-bad cook. He's better than many of them. He seems to have good knife skills. He cooks things from scratch and doesn't seem to care if they take a long time. I even saw him make homemade spaetzle once. How many other FN cooks would do that? Then there is his DDD show, where he showcases small-town, mom-and-pop restaurants. Here is a man who beneath his FN-manufactured persona is someone who cares about homemade food and small business.<br /><br />So what does he do? He opens a big-box restaurant where I'm sure they are probably preparing flash-froze, reheated food like any other big-box restaurant. He's not in the kitchen himself cooking homemade food. His place is just a tourist trap that seems to go against everything he was trying to do over the past few years. In that respect, this restaurant really does need a takedown!The Short (dis)Order Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05510572788683143569noreply@blogger.com