Thank you so much for that link. I was at that Commonwealth Club panel and I’m so glad I went. Joyce did not steer away from some very hard-hitting questions and it was great to hear people really speak to topics rarely covered in the glossies.

Aaron,

Thanks for weighing in. I have to agree, but the thing is that if you Google a restaurant name and the only thing a person can find is blogs or blogging sites like Yelp and so forth, a restaurant has to know these words are going to affect them.

Stephanie,

Your points are well taken, thanks for taking the time to write them here.

I especially appreciate your questions in paragraph 5. i think the main difference is that a journalist has a company that can be held liable for slander, plagiarism and not-fact checking if they do these sorts of things. generally speaking I don’t know of any bloggers who HAVE TO follow journalistic standards. it’s great when we choose to, but those who do not, unfortunately do represent many of us if their blogs are more popular.

FB,

unfortunately the laws are written in SF so that giving portions of tips to the BOH is illegal. I agree that restaurants should make health care an option for ALL their employees, but the truth is that at an establishment where an owner is just barely breaking even, if that, there would be no restaurant at all if they also had to pay health insurance.

I don’t think “fining” restaurants for America’s health care issues is the answer. I agree that restaurant owners need to look beyond, “I make a mean dinner party, I think I should open a restaurant!” but, in SF especially, the cost of running a restaurant is so high that the small places will just close if they are being forced into a corner where they make no profit.

I know of many restaurants that do not make a profit, at all. Even though they are busy all the time. These places ARE a labor of love, and they stay afloat for passion, not reason.

I hope this piece will fuel more discussion and thoughts!

put simply like that, it villifies them. not my intention. but i am just simplifying the import of that piece as read by me. there are so many complex issues involved, but at the end of the day, thats what it means. from my pov, i dont think not making enough of a profit is not a good enough argument for not allowing a line cook or dishwasher afford healthcare for him and his family.

i am also peeved by the reluctance of the restaurants to add tips and service charge to the bill like in europe..and lately followed by thomas kellar in the states..and some others too, i dont remember the names. the whole tipping business is so silly and idiotic in this country. not to mention the lack of universal healthcare..but baby steps. in the meantime, these gaping holes in the system are part of the risky business called restaurant business. an entrepreneur has to ask himself certain hard questions before dipping into this endevour of opening a restaurant. like how much profit he is willing to forego if the child of a dishwasher can get his/her braces.

i am sorry. i know how hard it is for restaurant owners. i know they are not millionaires and that they work very hard, but this is how i feel.

“What, or who, Mario Batali is railing against, is those writing for the Internet with no concern for the business they are admiring or panning. “

The problem is, Batali tars all food bloggers with the same brush. One, he doesn’t even recognize the difference between food blogging in general and restaurant blogging specifically.

Two, he doesn’t give voice to the fact that there are restaurant bloggers who have the interest, background, or knowledge to support their opinions.

Three, he makes a distinction between blogging and “truly responsible journalism.” (Whose definition is that, anyway? How many journalists now blog? How many of us blog who were trained as journalists? How many of us didn’t train as journalists but still know what we’re talking about, are entitled to our opinions, have standards by which we judge things and how we dispense opinions?) And I find that incendiary and belittling.

“I reminded the audience that there are few professions skewered by non-colleague critics publicly.”

I agree, and I’ll give you some more professions who get skewered by non-colleague critics publicly: politics, the media (books, radio, print, music, TV, gaming), and the world of Hollywood/celebrity.

In the end, I don’t think a food blogger needs to have “credentials” to have an opinion about food or restaurants and make that opinion known. I think they need to have a sense of integrity and the desire to write the truth, not obscure it, or outright distort it. However, that can be hoped for anyone who makes or writes public statements, opinions, etc. Even the “truly responsible” journalists have a problem with those sorts of goals.

In fact, Mario seems to have a problems with just such a member of the journalistic community in the form of a NY Post writer he doesn’t like.

What I hate most about turning “food blogger” into a dirty word is how it gives chefs and restaurants the comfortable feeling that they can slough off any and all comments that come from a food blogger because, after all, they’re just a food blogger.