Opinions Vary

For the last couple of days, a particularly harsh restaurant critique has been making the rounds on the internet. It comes from the "New York Times" food critic, Pete Wells, and essentially skewers celebrity chef Guy Fieri's new restaurant, Guy's American Kitchen and Bar in Times Square. For those of you who may not have seen it yet, allow me to sum it up for you: Wells was not a fan. Now, I don't really have an opinion on Fieri one way or another. I find him no more or less annoying than any other celebrity chef and whether or not I will watch his show that day has very little to do with him and everything to do with whether or not I want to attempt to cook whatever recipe he has on his show that episode. That being said, I found the article pretty amusing because the entire review was written in the form of snarky questions and, let's face it, I love snark. A lot of people are wondering if Wells went too far, but I understand it is his job to give his opinion on the place. Still, I couldn't help coming away from reading it with two thoughts on a loop in my head: Who the hell is Pete Wells and why should I care what he thinks?

I admit that I have never understood the world of the critic. I don't know how we got to the point of raising one person's opinion above all the rest, especially when they are so often pretentious. I certainly don't remembering voting on this one person speaking for the rest of society. Also, they never seem to have the proper perspective. I can't stand it when film critics go to see the latest explosion-filled summer blockbuster and then essentially get away without reviewing it because they dismiss the entire genre as mindless action movies. Yeah, well, every now and again all people want to watch are car chases, explosions and catch phrases. Not everything is made to try and win an Oscar. I know, "Hey, I didn't like it, but maybe you will" isn't the strongest article in the world, but at least it would be more honest. (If you have ever read my movie reviews you know this is exactly what I usually say.) The problem is these critics could never write something like that, because it would cut into their cushy gig. These guys probably realize how sweet a deal it is to get paid to watch movies and figure the least they could do is try to act as though they honestly believe people need to know what they think.

But food critics are even worse. The only thing I think that is more personal than a person's taste in movies is their taste in food. This may be the most subjective topic in the world, thus making the food critic among the most useless professions in the world. It is entirely possible that the chef was just a little heavy-handed with the garlic that night and while Wells hates garlic, if you happen to love it than Guy's new restaurant could be the best place for you. Besides, critics are often at these establishments soon after they are open, when the staff is still trying to get their feet, which anyone who has worked in food services knows is a tough time. According to his New York Times bio, Mr. Wells has a very impressive writing career, winning multiple journalism awards throughout the years. However, in reading that bio I couldn't help but notice a few holes in his resume - most notably anything having to do with food. As near as I can tell this guy has never tried to open a restaurant or graduated from any level of culinary institute. Hell, for all we know he's never even taking a cooking class. I'm not saying you should only be allowed to review restaurants if you are also a world-class chef, but I certainly wouldn't listen to a car review from a man who can't tell me anything about what is under the hood.

A few months ago I wrote about James Cameron taking over a panel discussion about the Titanic even though he was probably the least-qualified person in the room. At the time I argued that just because he was an enthusiast, it didn't mean his opinion was more valid than the salvage expert or naval engineer. The same premise applies here. Just because Mr. Wells has been writing about food for a long time, that doesn't actually make him an expert on the subject. If the job was based on number of meals consumed than there is probably some 80 year-old in Manhattan who has pushed himself away from the table more than Mr. Wells and would love to tell the world what he thinks. (Old people do love to share their unsolicited opinions.) If nothing else, Yelp! has shown us that while it may not be done as elegantly or as grammatically correct, pretty much anyone with a mouth and a keyboard can review a restaurant. So, I applaud Mr. Wells for his writing style, but completely dismiss the content of his article. I don't care how large his circulation, he's just like any blogger with an opinion. And if he doesn't like my criticism than Mr. Wells can take solace in the fact that I understand I'm just a guy with a blog who doesn't actually think my opinions should influence how anyone feels about him or his work. Too bad he doesn't have enough perspective to feel the same way.