The Burden of Food Criticism

I can hardly imagine what pressures real food critics face.  But, as an amateur and poseur, I often wonder.  How do you, (read how does one) keep interest up when you want to say – “OK Go,” or “This place really, maximally, sucks?”  This issue came stark face in front of me at a place in Florence (Italy, not Mass) when I realized that the meal was in serious descent and there were no ropes or axes to bind me to the rocks.  My buddies in Paris seem to have no problem.  One says “I don’t write up bad meals,”  Another says “I try to encourage young people to experiment and eat out” (implied meaning, they usually eat take-out or crappola from Monoprix.)  Yet another says “I try to pair a bad review with a bad one or tuck it into a longer piece.”  One other says “what’s the problem?”  And finally, one said “Why bother, it’s done.”  Well, as a guy who likes to tell the truth and has considered the last 8 years in the US to have caused us to have lost all respect globally for honesty, intelligence and values, I think telling it like it is, up or down, positive or negative, warts and all is what counts.    Blog: John Talbott’s Paris ©by John Talbott 2008