Calling All Food Bloggers...

This morning, I have been completely entranced with the story about the ongoing battle of New York City Chef Joe Dobias vs. the food blogging world.

Chef Dobias (or Joe Doe, as he is called) owns a restaurant in the East Village called, well, JoeDoe. Recently, there have been some mediocre reviews of his establishment.  And Chef Joe has taken it upon himself to attack anyone who has something negative to say.

Recently, a Yelp commenter wrote: 

For entrees, two of us ordered the pork belly (mill valley belly on the menu i think), while one of us ordered the duck. incidentally, although our server was really friendly and good about suggesting dishes, he said he'd never tried the duck. i guess that's good he was honest about it, but on a menu of 10 items, how could you not have tried everything at least once? anyway the pork belly was good but VERY VERY fatty. delicious but FAT. the spinach it came with was disappointing though, lacking in flavor and dry.

Well, watch out Yelpers, here comes Chef JoeDoe:

"Yelp sucks for this reason.  Uneducated people can post stupid things on here.  Pork belly is exactly that, a belly of a pig.....fatty....that is like saying bacon is fatty??  Just silly commentary.  Kale was the accompanying vegetable not sure what country kale is condsidered to be spinach.  Further the server did not taste the dish bc we change the menu daily...it is impossible and extremely costly to tastee every new dish every day.  If you liked only the sandwich and the sundae you lack the depth of understanding to appreciate a restaurant like JoeDoe.  I think it is unfortunate that people like you offer up sucj harsh critiques....posing like you have a pallete.  Please visit another restaurant, preferably one that gives a choice of sald dressing, that is what you need.
Chef JoeDoe"

Not the best response to paying customers. Isn't the key to having a successful restaurant is by having repeat customers? 

Later, Food Blogger Marc Dobias reviewed the restaurant on his site, New York Journal.  He wrote that:

 "...the staff pointed out a rule prohibiting photography, which purportedly annoys the other guests—notwithstanding that there weren’t any, aside from a loving couple at the opposite end of the room who, we are sure, did not notice our non-flash camera. So we are unable to show you the photos of what we ate, which looked a lot better than it tasted.... A Veev Cured Scallop ($12) made a dull impression. Veev (a brand of vodka) contributed little, other than its fancy name. A schmear of jalapeno mayo was more than the scallop needed, but not enough to spread on the accompanying crisp bread. A salad of cured pork on lukewarm cooked green vegetables also misfired...."

Well, Chef JoeDoe was not going to take this lying down.  He came out, spatulas a-blazin':

"Marc this is a malicious post based on the fact that you were upset b/c the server told you not to take pictures.  You are too arrogant for rules I guess. I think your bitter, and I feel sorry for you. Blogging is a silly science with no rules and the players often times have zero concept of working in a restaurant, running one and most shockingly eating at one. I would like you to extend me the offer to sit next to you at your job (let me guess something to do with computers?) and then "blog" about how bad you are after you offend my sensibilities. JoeDoe is polarizing, but doesn't deserve or warrant blog posts by angry little men. Lastly, my resto is in the EV the only people who eat at 6:30 on a friday are the dinosaurs they serve at Prune." 

Oh. No. He. Didnt!!!

Well, Marc just had to respond:

"Thanks for the comments, Joe. Despite the argumentative tone, I shall try to respond to them in a serious fashion...

...The “no photo” rule appears on the menu in fairly small print, which I did not notice until the server pointed it out. Once the server made the request, I of course complied... 

...I do not claim any expertise at running a restaurant. I also require none. Chefs don’t just cook for experts. No “expert” is entitled to tell me that I am supposed to have loved the food I was served... 

...Thanks for the offer to sit next to me at my job, and “blog” about what I do, but it is not relevant. I do not have a job that directly serves the public...

...Lastly, I’ve eaten plenty of early Friday dinners in the East Village, and I’ve never seen a restaurant as empty as yours was."

OH, SNAP! YO MAMA!

Chef JoeDoe came back:

Marc I dont need your opinion nor do other chefs. The reason they dont respond is bc you are a blogger and should not matter. But when you kill yourself for a living like I do, it is very tough to stomach an angry little mans opinion. Who honestly care what you think and further how dare you and the other sh*thead bloggers. You made your snap judgement on one visit and further as I said you have zero credibility for writing reviews. That was the only reason i responded here. You are wrong about my food and the restaurant, you simply have no taste judging on your paste "reviews"......stop your malicious bullsh*t and stop this site! YOU ARE NOT A FOOD WRITER AND WILL NEVER BE YOU NASTY LITTLE MAN!! It is 9:30am time to cook brunch hopefully not for some nasty little bald men like you. I will make sure I call my friends to look at for you George Constanza.

And then Wilfred (WHO???) chimes in:

Joe,

I dined at your restaurant a while back and wrote a review. I don't know if you had a rule against taking pictures then, but I took plenty and nobody stopped me. And I still had considerable reservations about what you were serving.

I certainly don't always agree with Marc, but he's giving his honest opinion; for myself, I have found that chefs love blogs when they get great reviews. If other "bloggers" love your cooking, then why worry about Marc - or me? If you are finding similar criticisms repeated by different writers at different times, perhaps you should consider what they're saying.

All the best.

WHO IS THIS GUY??? Chef JoeDoe has answers:

dont get me started on you wilfred.....i remember you and your snooty blog. Since when do English guys get to comment on food. Just sit down let marc finish what he started. Little does he see that if he didn't like it he could simply not go back. But to post opinions and mask them as facts as all you bloggers do is wrong. period.

I'm telling you, this is better than Real Housewives of New Jersey!  Seriously! Who at Bravo TV do I need to call to make this show happen!?

Eater, which once reviewed the restaurant and pointed out that it was "disappointing and somewhat bafflingly presented" but that they "seemed like they genuinely want to be liked by the neighbors, and they serve huge portions at modest prices", picked up on all of the internet hubub and wrote:

Joe Dobias talks to Grub Street. He likens himself to The Chang, calls the attention being paid to DBGB unfair, and says that Prune chef Gabrielle Hamilton doesn't respect him. It's worth a read.

...To close, a quote from one Mr. Josh Ozersky: "Anybody who eats at a restaurant has a right to broadcast their opinion. Welcome to America. You don’t need to go to cooking school; you don’t need to have worked in a restaurant; and you don’t need a James Beard Award to do it."

Joe took it upon himself to write a little note to Eater in the comments section:

you guys are true to form at eater. Read nymag before you glance material for your bloodbath. Thanks for all the comments. I assure you you will make me famous and for that I love you little bloggers sticking together. "thick as thieves right!?" Just an FYI I cleary said I was not of the level of dainel nor chef hamilton.....still only see what you want to see. I am proud of my nonconformist style and mt "silly names" are obviously offending the grand culinary palletes at eater! THanks for the coverage. Funny how we couldn't ever get you guys to pay attention and now you love us, well some hate us, but HEY THANKS GUYS! F Eater

I am actually stunned by all of this. "Does. Not. Compute" is flashing through my head.  And I actually find myself angry over all of this!  I understand that chefs have a new challenge that they never had to face before with the emergence of food blogging and review sites like Yelp or MenuPages, but that does not give the chef, or anyone else for that matter, license to insult paying customers.  Mark hit it right on the head:  No “expert” is entitled to tell me that I am supposed to have loved the food I was served. 

I struggle with restaurant reviews.  I actually tend to avoid them here on my blog because I do understand the methodology in which a review should only be written after 3, 4, or even 5 trips to the same restaurant. I have written reviews on Yelp and Menu Pages, and they were lukewarm reviews only because my experience was so offensively bad that I thought it useful to share with the community and they were not restaurants, but quick, in-and-out places whose business would not be drastically affected by one review.

But I do get offended at the insults that are often hurdled at bloggers.  Why is it that when a blogger gives a good food review, there is no problem, but when the review is less than favorable, bloggers are considered the scum of the internet earth?

I am curious to see how the rest of the blogging community feels about this one.

Oh, and Chef JoeDoe?  It is spelled "Palate" not "Pallete".  And in the words of Ross Gellar, "Y-O-U-apostrophe-R-E means ‘you are,’ Y-O-U-R means ‘your!’"

But I guess that the comments section can be a bit like Yelp, eh?  In your words, "Uneducated people can post stupid things on here."

Comments

[Tracy]

Wow, I agree...this needs to be some kind of reality show!

[Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction]

Too funny! I would watch a Bravo show about that. :)

[Shannalee]

Wow.

I hadn't read anything about these exchanges until now, but I'm also a little more fascinated that I should admit by them now!

On the one hand, bloggers aren't food critics, true.

On the other, are restaurants only for the elite? And if restaurants are for the common man, shouldn't he be allowed to share his honest opinion?

I took down my Yelp account sometime last year after mixed feelings on the whole issue, but a friend pointed out that Yelp is good because, sometimes, you as a normal everyday person don't want Fancy Writer's opinion; you want the feedback of a normal everyday person like yourself (you know, the ones whose patronage keeps restaurants in business?).

[Aimee]

Wow...I don't even know what to say about this. Chef JoeDoe certainly is taking great offense to a few less-than-desireable reviews. As someone who works in a public domain, he should know that there are always going to be people who like what you do and people who don't. There is no reason to get so crazy over it. Plus, if you're going to rant and rave, at least do it in correct English, and don't stoop to cursing. Pretty crazy stuff this is.

[Stacey Snacks]

T,
How strange that the chef and reviewer both have the same last name?
I don't have a problem w/ a no photo taking or no cell phone rule in a restaurant, I find them both distracting........

On another note, I have a food blog, I have no professional culinary training, however consider myself to have good "taste", and have the right to my opinion about a restaurant, good or bad.

There is no difference between Menu Pages, City Search, Yelp or Urban Spoon. They are all REAL diner's opinions, and I always take them seriously, even if sometimes the writer's spelling and grammar STINKS!

[Hornedfroggy of My Baking Heart]

HA! I was giggling already, but as soon as I got to your Ross quote, I lost it (that's one of my favorite lines... and it's SO true!)! :)

[Tangled Noodle]

The heated drama! The fiery tempers! The knives are drawn . . . !

I can understand both sides of the issue: paying customers have every right to express their satisfaction or displeasure over their meal but then again, it's never easy to hear anyone say that the food you cooked sucked. I take it so hard if I think that people did not enjoy the food I prepared.

Chef JoeDoe would be better off simply reading the comments, venting to his poor sous-chefs and waitstaff, taking a deep breath and looking at whether or not the critique had a point. From the sound of it, the above critics pointed out specific issues - many restaurateurs have to PAY consultants to tell them why people don't return!

Reviews on the sites mentioned by Stacy Snacks are great resources and there are bloggers whose opinion I've learned to trust and appreciate; but in the end, I will probably opt to find out for myself. So chill, JoeDoe - nobody wants to dine at a place run by a thin-skinned guy with anger issues and access to sharp instruments.

[Eliana]

I've heard about this guy and it's disgraceful in my opinion. Everyone has their own taste and everyone has their own opinion. When I review bakieries though I always have at least 3-4 items to really get a sense of what the food is like (and be fair). But for this guy to call what we do as bloggers silly is well...silly in and of itself. I guess to each his own but forget the food, I wouldn't eat at this guy's place ever because of his outright nasty attitude.

[Karen]

Oh, my. It sounds like Joe needs to get back in the kitchen and work on his cooking (and spelling).
I think blog readers know the difference between a blogger's review and a food writer's.

[food librarian]

so love this. i wish someone would act it out now.

[Jennifer]

Is it wrong that I find his (Joe's) spelling/grammar almost as egregious as his attitude?

[AmyRuth]

I'm just a little old girl from the south, I guess. I live in Missouri now. Some say that's the midwest, others argue its south. I'm from Texas and Missouri is definitely not the south to me. I don't travel to NYC often, so largely my base of knowledge is what I read on the net. I compare this to a lot of Hollywood celebrities who are looking for exposure or publicity, and have found that even bad behavior yields exposure. I suppose even "Bad" publicity is still publicity. Maybe it works for this guy or maybe he really is having a hard time keeping the doors open, sadly. Either way, I can't help remembering the little adage "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all." However, I think this idea as well as courtesy and manners, sadly has evaporated in today's society.

[Leslie]

I'm at home with the flu and JoeDoe just made my day, thanks to you, Teanna. Sometimes chefs tend to think their food is so precious it can't be appreciated by the common man. It is after all just food. I think poor ol' Joe fancies himself an artist; if so, he needs to remember that museums are open to the general public (even for free on some days). No degree in art is required, and we can like or dislike, praise or pan the works of art within. Taste is subjective, we each get to have an opinion. The first amendment gives us the right write about our opinions on our blogs. Maybe Joe needs his own blog to rail about uneducated, unappreciative diners. Eventually they would go dine in other restaurants and he would be left in peace to enjoy his own food.

You need to figure out how to sell this idea to Bravo. It would be perfect before/after Top Chef.

[Phyllis (me HUNGRY!)]

Ooh, can't wait till JoeDoe stumbles upon this post!

I know there are chefs and restaurants out there who view food bloggers with great disdain. But most of the chefs I've met have been really nice (at least so far). I also try to be respectful of an establishment's photo-taking rules. And just like Tangled Noodle, I can see both sides of the argument - the restaurant industry is pretty brutal, especially during a recession -one bad review could destroy someone's livelihood. At the same time, we all have a right to our own opinion and nobody likes to feel ripped off.

When I'm checking out a new restaurant, I always read yelp, menupages etc, along with all the critic and blogger reviews available, primarily because I rarely get to go to a restaurant more than once (nor can I afford to dine there 3,4,or 5 times) and I don't want to miss out on any signature dishes during my visit.

And as for my own blog, I'm just a girl who likes to eat and some of the stuff I write is pretty silly. But I try not to take myself too seriously ;)

[Spike]

so entertaining! The restaurant business is not the line of work to be in if you can't take criticism.

[steph (whisk/spoon)]

oh yeah, this story is high entertainment!

[jenn]

Oh this is hilarious!!! I can just imagine this whole thing playing out in my head.

I do agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But when the other person reacts with an almost berating response, that's taking it a little overboard for me. Sheesh! Talk about professionalism.

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

Truly good chefs don't pay attention to restaurant reviews unless perhaps they are from established critics. Our reviews are not to rate the chefs but for the prospective diners' benefit. It's beyond my understanding why this Chef JoeDoe would even look at comments on Yelp, let alone comment like this back and forth. Does he really expect anyone to come to his restaurant now?

[The Duo Dishes]

HA! OK, so your commentary actually made this funnier. Yikes, some people just take things too seriously. If you can't take the heat...BYE!

[somethingsweetbykaren]

wow. seriously.