Boulder in CITY magazine

[pepperedpalate]

Home on the Range

 

Unfortunately, you've got to pony up $1.99 to read the story, which appears on page 72.

[rlm]

This is a great article, Lori! Thanks for doing Boulder proud. (Hopefully, you won't be ripped apart in the Daily Camera for focusing on the "new kids in town" and enjoying the salumi plate at Frasca.)

 

I must say I was skeptical about an "e-zine," but I really like the lay-out and navigation. It looks great on a 24" widescreen monitor. It even has a large red PANIC button at the top (in case "the boss is heading your way").

 

Isn't this magazine usually free in its printed form though? I know I've seen them in "W" hotel rooms before.

[pepperedpalate]

This is a great article, Lori! Thanks for doing Boulder proud. (Hopefully, you won't be ripped apart in the Daily Camera by Mutt/Alan for focusing on the "new kids in town" and enjoying the salumi plate at Frasca.)

 

I must say I was skeptical about an "e-zine," but I really like the lay-out and navigation. It looks great on a 24" widescreen monitor. It even has a large red PANIC button at the top (in case "the boss is heading your way").

 

Isn't this magazine usually free in its printed form though? I know I've seen them in "W" hotel rooms before.

 

Thanks...It is distributed free at all the "W" hotels, but CITY also has a wide national paid circulation and newstand base.

[gwcafe]

] Not to burst any bubbles ,but the NY times and most of these other publications are strait up getting their palms greased by some very expensive PR firms to get this press. I mean Matt at Mateo (Oh sorry...he's a chef now)makes it sound like 10 years ago we Boulderites lived on sprouts and tofu. I'm not taking anything away from SOME of the newcomers, But Antonio, John at Q's ,Querry, Jim Smailler at the cork, the Monet family, to name but a few laid the ground work around these parts ,when some of these people being written about now were too busy stealing wine from their employers to notice ,or having mom make their lunch for school.I was getting fresh grown organic vegetables grown for my restaurants back in the early 80's. A little something I picked up on in Berkley. Please Boulder, If you are just learning about food now, fine, but get real! The brave new world is about paid PR firms, not necessarily reallity.

[mongo_jones]

older chefs may have laid the groundwork, but if you're the person who thinks that places like aji, zolo, flagstaff house etc. can hold a candle to frasca or even the kitchen then your agenda is affecting your palate. mateo, i agree, is overrated.

[rlm]

] Not to burst any bubbles ,but the NY times and most of these other publications are strait up getting their palms greased by some very expensive PR firms to get this press.

 

I will have more to say about this shortly, but I wanted to quickly mention that I hope you’re not implying that Lori Midson is “getting her palms greased.” Many of us on this board know her and have respected her opinions on dining in the Denver area for many years (and not just about fine dining, but also hole-in-the-wall joints). If you actually read her article in CITY, you would know that one of the places she writes about is Pupusas Sabor Hispano, hardly a white tablecloth establishment with a high-powered PR firm.

 

(And mongo, I don't think this is Zardoz/Mutt.)

[gwcafe]

No ones accusing anyone one person ,but it's common knowledge that it is increasing. As for Zolo verses The kitchen......that's just apples and oranges. I've had good and bad at both. Frasca # 35 in the country? Ahead of places like Gary Danko.......Not in my world. I like Frasca. Had some good food there. No question , very professional ! But top 50 in the US. That's just crazy talk. Money talks.

[rlm]

It seems like the New York Times article has engendered lots of ill will in the community. Can we all just please have a group hug now, Boulder? There’s room at the table for everyone. I enjoy and respect what John Platt does at Q’s as well as what Lachlan does at Frasca, but why do I have to choose between the “old guard” and the “newbies?” Can’t I love them all and appreciate that people across the country are writing about Boulder in articles that don’t include references to Jon Benet?

 

My direct response to Mutt’s letter to the editor in the Daily Camera and his posts on Chowhound is this (since it applies here):

 

I can understand that it pains you that other talented people in the community who you've dined with for so many years might not be getting the same publicity, but the attention the "newcomers" receive is great for the entire culinary community in Boulder (including the established veterans). If someone from out of state reads an article about The Kitchen in Cooking Light or Frasca in Food & Wine magazine or Mateo in Wine Spectator and books a table at one of these places, then this means when they arrive they're probably also spending money at local hotels and many other businesses. This pumps money into the Boulder economy and acts as an engine for jobs and opportunities for more people (and brings more people into town to discover all the other great restaurants including those you mentioned in your letter).

 

I've sat next to people at the bar at Frasca who were in Denver on business and found that they made a special trip to Boulder just to eat there (when they would not have otherwise done so). So where's the harm if they decide to book a room at a local hotel afterwards and then get up the next morning and check out Lucile's or Q's or one of the other established places for a hearty breakfast or lunch? Maybe when they're sitting at the bar at one of the newer places another guest (like me) or a staffer or one of the owners will tell them about the foie and the great view at the Flagstaff House and they'll book a table there for another evening. How is this a bad thing for the culinary community in Boulder?

 

In response to you, gwcafe, even if a restaurant hires a publicist--so what? Maybe they’re just better business people, but that shouldn’t detract from their talents in the kitchen & wine cellar and on the floor. And even if they have a publicist, can you prove that they’re “buying off” national magazines or is this just a fun conspiracy theory people invent in their heads to make themselves feel better when people aren’t eating in their restaurants?

 

The bottom line is that diners vote with their dollars. No publicist or glossy magazine article is telling me where to eat on a continual basis! Reading about a restaurant might make me walk through the door for the first time (or even let me know that the place exists), but you’d better believe they need to have “the goods” to back it up or I’m not going back. So if people enjoy Frasca or The Kitchen or even Chipotle better than any other places in town, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. I’ve read reviews and articles about places that I thought were vile, and I won’t go back to any of them. Do you really believe the diners at Frasca are suffering but only eat there because there was a big article on them recently in Food & Wine? Please.

 

People like Lori have credibility with me since she genuinely loves all kinds of food and raves about tiny, family-owned places that could never, ever in a million years afford a publicist (or even an automatic dishwasher).

 

Yes, any attempt to order the top restaurants in the country is a little silly, but it stirs debate and sells magazines and gives us all something to talk about while we’re procrastinating on our taxes, and who gives you the right to say Frasca doesn’t deserve to be in the Top 50? Last year, I ate at many other highly-regarded restaurants such as Toque and Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal; Per Se and Babbo in NYC; Manresa in Los Gatos; Nobu in London; Masa’s, Aqua, A16, Fleur de Lys, and a billion other places in the Bay Area (since it’s one of my favorite areas for food anywhere), but the anniversary meal I had at Frasca over-all was probably the best of any of them when you include all aspects (food, service, and wine). Admittedly, the tasting menu at Manresa last year was pretty damn hard to beat, but Frasca gets the edge based on wine and service.

 

One must also ask why people always seem to be so jealous of the success of others. If a work colleague out-performs me, I don’t get mad at them and pout, but push myself harder to elevate my game.

 

By the way, what are your restaurants, gwcafe? Were they any of the ones that you mentioned in your first post?

[rlm]

I just wanted to make clear to gwcafe and anyone else who might not know me that I am not involved in the restaurant industry, media, or PR world in any way, nor do I speak for any of these people (including Lori). I am merely a consumer who has eaten at restaurants discussed in this thread, including Frasca starting in their second week of business (when I wasn't "distracted" by any glossy magazine articles and still loved the food and wine anyway).

[pepperedpalate]

] Not to burst any bubbles ,but the NY times and most of these other publications are strait up getting their palms greased by some very expensive PR firms to get this press. The brave new world is about paid PR firms, not necessarily reallity.

 

As the author of the CITY story on Boulder, I'm just curious: Where is the substantiation backing up your accusatory -- and unfounded -- claims that the New York Times and other publications "get their palms greased" by PR firms?

 

I would be very careful about making such rash and unsubstantiated generalizations about a subject that you clearly know nothing about. I've been a food and travel writer for more than 10 years, and NONE of the myriad national publications for which I write "get their palms greased" by PR reps or agencies.

 

And for the record, neither do I.

 

If you did your research, you'd know that the majority of restaurants in my piece have no PR representation.

 

-Lori

[rlm]

I wrote Michelle Auerbach, the author of the piece in the New York Times, and invited her to chime in. She graciously sent me the following, which she welcomed me to share:

 

"The Times has standards that make all other papers look like Yellow Journalism. You cannot accept anything free, and you cannot even identify yourself when you make a reservation. I had to eat first, pay, and then later go back and call to interview the chefs. Even now, when I eat at those restaurants, I can’t accept anything. As to PR, if they have PR firms, I never talked to them. I spoke with my editor at the Times, we brainstormed the article, I suggested the restaurants from my own experience living here. I ate, paid for it myself too, and then called the chefs and they all offered to meet with me, usually at odd hours, and were gracious and informative.

 

If anyone is interested, the NY Times has a multi-page journalistic ethics document that all reporters must sign, and it inventories all the rules.

 

As to why I picked those restaurants, I myself am a chef (originally from New York) and have been in Boulder for 11 years. Those are the restaurants I recommend when people come to town, they serve the food I respect, and they are innovative. There other MANY other restaurants I love in Boulder, but that being said, the theme the times wanted was 'what is new and innovative' so that is what I wrote.

 

I don’t feel tarnished at all by the controversy, I am glad that people in Boulder care enough about food and restaurants to debate it."

[gwcafe]

Rim, I truly respect and agree with much of what you say. No need to send resumes or discuss how we spend our disposable income and vast amounts of free time. The recent press is a good thing for all of us in the food community. No ones jealous, this areas been over looked for a long time. There have been great places to eat around here for many years and although in recent years we are making strides, We still have many more ahead(myself included). Andre Soltner once said when he was on top of the heap that anyone who thinks they are creating something new in food is wrong, it's all been done before. I think the folks at Frasca would be the first to proudly agree. There's nothing wrong with simplicity and trying to perfect it,day in and day out. My point is some folks have been at it a long time around here. I'm just sick of packaging and all this hype. I'm not just sick of it on a press/PR level, but on all levels, from the way they are screwing with food and farmers on up. It's all a bunch of crap.

[mongo_jones]

gwcafe, could you tell me, so that in the few months i have left in colorado i don't miss any great dining opportunities, which the older restaurants in boulder are that are at frasca's level?

 

and how are they screwing with food and farmers?

[Evelyn]

[by the way, what are your restaurants, gwcafe? Were they any of the ones that you mentioned in your first post?

 

I'd like to know the answer to this question too.

[rlm]

gwcafe, I’m a little disappointed. No response to the follow-ups that were provided from two members of the national media on your assertions about newer local restaurants buying them off? Further, you’ve specifically implied that Frasca paid to be in Gourmet’s Top 50, so by all means, please give us some hard data to back up these claims.

 

Yes, life’s not fair.

There is no Santa Claus.

But in posting to this thread (which you apparently only registered with mouthfulsfood to do), you’ve attacked the character of two local authors who happen to write for the national media, as well as restaurateurs who live and work and pay taxes in your community. That deserves better substantiation than the fact that you’re “sick of packaging and all this hype.”

 

It’s okay to be frustrated and disapproving of what you see as “hype” and to want credit to be given to others in the community (including, apparently, yourself). However, I’m not sure why you’re making the dangerous mental leap that national media attention is all “bought.” Moreover, publicly attacking the credibility of the newer places in town doesn’t elevate your position and really doesn’t do anyone any good, particularly when you’re doing it under what you assume is a cloak of anonymity and won’t tell us which restaurants you own/represent/work at. There may be a tiny conflict of interest here.

 

It’s not like the “old guard” doesn’t get any media attention. You referred to the Monnette Family in your first post as being one of those who laid the ground work. In September of last year, the Food Network aired an episode of “Road Tasted” where they visited the Flagstaff House and filmed Mark Monnette preparing a lamb dish. They also went to the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. They did not even mention Mateo, Frasca, or The Kitchen. Is this also “hype” that makes you “sick” or is it merely good publicity for Boulder?

 

Like mongo, I’d also like to know what you mean by how the new restaurants are “screwing with food and farmers on up.”

 

Further, I’m not sure where your “vast amounts of free time” assumption comes from (my comments obviously touched a nerve), but I’m a working stiff who only gets a couple of weeks of vacation each year (I do lots of weekend trips and use flex-time where I end up working 15-hour days to make up time). In fact, I put myself through college on my own and struggled for a long time before I ever had a job that gave me any kind of paid leave. But thank you for playing.

 

I only brought up some of the other restaurants I ate at last year because you brought up Gary Danko in SF and how you thought Frasca didn't compare "in your world" to it. Danko was your comparison, so I brought up a few of mine so you would know I'm not just comparing Frasca to other local places like Aji or Zolo Grilll.

 

Oh, and tell me again how many other restaurants in Boulder--not to mention the country--besides Frasca are co-owned by a master sommelier who actually works the floor most nights a week? That's a common thing, right?