Tonight, We Go West
Thursday, July 6, 2006 6:47
Rather, we go to West tonight…
I get emails here and there from PR folks who would like to promote their client’s event or restaurant. For the most part, I skip over them, especially if it is obvious that I am just on some mass list. I do appreciate it when the PR rep adds a personal note and on a few occasions we have promoted an event or restaurant by giving away something from them.
A couple weeks ago I got an email from someone representing the newly opened West Restaurant, which is perched atop the Hotel Angeleno. The hotel has taken over the old Holiday Inn location at the corner of Sunset Blvd and the 405 Freeway. The email was an invitation to try out West sometime. While it was not explicitly stated, I am assuming that the idea is that I try West, write about it here and they get a little publicity out of it.
We emailed back and forth a bit, settled on tonight, verified that I could take pictures and that dinner is on the house. I assume that I will still be leaving a tip, that there might be some parking charges, but other than that the meal is comped. Which brings me to my next thought. Can I accurately evaluate a restaurant if I’m not paying? None of the writers here are paid (including myself, who in addition to paying for meals also pays for hosting and puts in the time to maintain the site), so everything else that gets written here incorporates that part of the equation (i.e. ‘it was good, but not quite worth the $$$’).
Another thing about my reviews, is that if I go to a place and have a bad experience, a lot of times I just don’t write about it. I figure that there are plenty of other places to recommend, and it just might be that I caught the place on a bad night. Rather than tarnish a restaurant’s reputation, I would rather just move on to the next place. But here’s a case where I plan to write about the restaurant either way.
So there you go, full disclosure. I’m getting a “free” dinner for my wife and I at a presumably nice steakhouse in the sky. More details to come on how the evening goes.
By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.
Jumpcut says:
July 6th, 2006 at 9:27 am
I appreciate your honesty. If you write a bad (or mixed) review, you may not get as many free offers from restaurants in the future, but you maintain the credibility of your site. I hope restaurants continue to offer you comped meals, even though they might not always get a glowing review in return. An honest review benefits both the restaurant and your readers.
Kristy says:
July 6th, 2006 at 9:28 am
I had this same conversation with Jeni last week as we sampled free food at Flor Morena Fine Foods for the Hungry? LA book party. I enjoyed the food there, and like you… I try to write about the good as opposed to focusing on all the bad. That’s the forever optimist in me. And yeah, it doesn’t hurt when the food is free though!
But like we hear so many times, sometimes the food could be great but the service lousy - which in turn, makes the food less great and the experience less than satisfactory. And then there are the places where the food is good, but the service is GREAT… and it makes the experience that much better. And then there’s just plain old bad food and bad service - I’ve noticed that those two go hand-in-hand. And I just choose not to write about those b/c well… I know I’d never go back again.
Looking forward to your review! =)
KT says:
July 6th, 2006 at 10:00 am
Well, that’s one of the perks … as long as YOU don’t let the free stuff commpromise your review, then it’s all good.
Take it and enjoy! I’ll be curious to see how it was ….
Jonah says:
July 6th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Jumpcut - I can say that if no one offers me a free meal again, I will be ok with it. It is a nice perk, of course, but I will do my best to give an honest evaluation.
Kristy - I agree, service comes in to play big time. The odd thing about tonight is that not only do they know that I am coming, but they know exactly what table I am sitting at. I expect that the service will be as good as it can, I will be surprised if they drop the ball there. I will certainly let everyone know though.
KT - I am going to do my best to be objective, but I have to believe that my judgement will be somewhat clouded, I will let the audience evaluate my review on its merit.
After my dinner, I also plan on emailing some questions to the owner and the chef. If anyone has specific questions for them, let me know.
Bree says:
July 6th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Sometimes meals seem to taste better when someone else is paying. I would keep track of what the meal would have cost, and write my review as if I paid the bill.
Jonah says:
July 6th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Bree- You’re right, food tastes better and you are more willing to overlook small details that would bother you if you are paying. I think I can provide a cost to value evaluation too, I’ll give a summary of what the meal would have cost.
KT says:
July 6th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Yeah, you’re right that since they know you are coming and it’s not anonymous the service and perhaps even the food will me more carefully orchestrated than normal.
I think we all kind of know that though, so as long as you are disclosing all the relevant facts, which you did, then we know what lens to read the review through.
A review done from that angle is still useful to give readers a basic overview of what the restaurant is all about, and when there’s a new restaurant with not a lot of info to go on, even that is really helpful in deciding whether it’s even worth the trip.
maxmillion says:
July 7th, 2006 at 8:50 am
^ KT I concur.
In this instance (I have already reviewed West for Brentwood magazine) I feel it is important to focus on the good and refrain from mentioning the bad. Readers can read between the lines.
As this is a freebie, it is not really an opportunity for a completely unbiased appraisal. You will be treated well and it is simply impossible to assess a restaurant as if you were a paying customer when you are not one. You can only report on your experience, albeit preferential.
Be warned — the valet parking is *timed* (why?); $4.50 for the first 2 hrs, thence $2.00 per 20 mins. It is a ridiculous and wholly unnecessary ripoff that I feel will dissuade visitors. This was a sour note that I did mention in my review.
Ask Josh (chef) for the handmade mushroom gnocci — it is sublime. We were also treated to a bottle of Robert Sinskey’s 2003 Pinot Noir that was fantastic. Save a glass for the chef as he will surely stop by your table!
Have a great time!
Anne says:
July 7th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
I just went to West under the very same offer and tried to be as objective as possible. I just posted a review and am eager to hear your thoughts on the place. Hope you had fun.
Zteve says:
July 7th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
Since we are all volunteers, it does not harm our standing to accept free meals for a resonable evaluation of a restaurant, however, if we did it as a paid position for a publication, ethics would demand never to accept a free meal to keep objective distance. In that respect, the reviewer would pay for the meal and their magazine would reimburse them for it. This way, the restaurant does not know who you are, and you are not tainted by a gesture of good will (like a movie reviewer). However…we are unpaid, so there is much breathing (and eating) room.
maxmillion says:
July 7th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
^ Zteve, I am with you and like the fact that Jonah is telling readers upfront about the sitch.
But I have to say, as a movie critic since 1991 who generally gains access via press screenings (for the most part — I do sometimes plunk down the dough for a ticket) I still review every film from a punter’s standpoint, as best as I can. (In fact, all the reviewers for the magazine I write for, Filmink Australia, rate all the movies on a price point from $0 to $14.50; in other words, how much was that movie worth the (Oz) price of a ticket?)
There has never been pressure to write a kind or soft review bc it was a free ticket.
Obviously the ideal sitch is the one you mentioned above, when you review a restaurant anonymously and your outlet foots the bill. When you read Irene’s reviews for the LA Times, it’s clear that she goes back two-to-three times, with a group of companions, before she evaluates a place. Whether or not she dines anonymously is debatable as some chefs have critics mugshots posted in their kitchen.
Anne — where can I read your West review?
Jumpcut says:
July 12th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
So how was the dinner?
Jonah says:
July 12th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
The review is mostly done, should be up in a day or two.