Sneakeater Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 There's sucking and there's sucking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backyardchef Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) Right.... but do you mean lower east side Mission Chinese kind of sucking? Because no matter how many breathlessly worshipful comments I saw, it was still an atrocious, uncomfortable, terrible service boasting, salt lick of inedible food and fetid swamp water described as cocktails.....I don't remember reviews saying that. The reviews sucked. Edited October 27, 2023 by backyardchef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backyardchef Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) I just don't know a critic I trust or like, but no critic will ever be as awful as Cuozzo. Edited October 27, 2023 by backyardchef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneakeater Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 38 minutes ago, backyardchef said: Right.... but do you mean lower east side Mission Chinese kind of sucking? Because no matter how many breathlessly worshipful comments I saw, it was still an atrocious, uncomfortable, terrible service boasting, salt lick of inedible food and fetid swamp water described as cocktails.....I don't remember reviews saying that. The reviews sucked. If a music writer likes Rachmaninoff or the Eagles, that doesn't mean I think they can't be a good critic. It just means I disagree with them. But if a music writer says that, say, music that attains mainstream popularity among whatever audience it's directed at is inherently bad, and that the reason for that is that music only becomes popular as a result of payola, I'd say they're a bad critic because (a) they think categorically and (b) the support they give for their view is factually incorrect and also illogical. A good critic doesn't have to be "right": there is no right. A good critic has to be able to reach a judgment (a lot of people aren't) and to support it in ways that are logically and factually accurate. The reader can then agree or disagree with the judgment. It doesn't matter. That's why Rosner's takedown of Bazaar is valuable criticism and Sietsema's takedown of Foxface Natural isn't. And I've never been to Bazaar, so I have no idea if I agree with Rosner. (Before you say it, let me make clear that I agree with you that by my standard -- which I think is pretty generally accepted as the standard for good criticism -- most restaurant reviewing isn't good. I've even argued that I don't think you can be a good restaurant critic if you don't cook. Not necessarily professionally, but seriously.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backyardchef Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) Inedibly salty on multiple occasions for multiple different groups is not just a difference of opinion between us and the people who raved about kung pao pastrami. It makes me think that a critic is so eager to be in the club that their judgment is untrustworthy. OR that their palate does not deserve the job. I would love if all reviewers were transparent on the criteria, but they just aren't because the majority of what they do is subjective including about the music or the server's choice of words, or value of the food.  Edited October 27, 2023 by backyardchef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneakeater Posted October 27, 2023 Author Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) I agree with you until the last part. Because the subjective judgment is the LEAST important part of good criticism. It's what the good part takes off from. If ALL there is a subjective judgment, it isn't even criticism. It's just bloviating. But Pete Wells and Helen Rosner and Ryan Sutton (the last of whom I rarely even agree with) don't do that. Edited October 29, 2023 by Sneakeater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backyardchef Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 6 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:  If ALL there is a subjective judgment, it isn't even criticism. It's just bloviating. But Pete Wells and Helen Rosner and Ryan Sutton (the last of whom I rarely even agree with) don't do that. My only reply is that I love Rosner's writing. She is never more in love with her own voice than the job at hand. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Well, I agree with the last two posts anyway. (I am currently trying to decide if Jackson Arn is going to be tolerable as the NYer's art critic.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 "(Henry) Taylor doesn’t really paint paintings at all; he paints faces and occupies the rest of each canvas with bright, dead space." Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud... (Sorry, digression.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 36 minutes ago, Wilfrid said: Well, I agree with the last two posts anyway. (I am currently trying to decide if Jackson Arn is going to be tolerable as the NYer's art critic.) I'm thinking no? "There’s something dodgy about portrait artists, and that’s part of their allure. One way or another, they need faces. Often, they steal them and hope nobody complains." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneakeater Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 Although I thought the Rothko piece was kind of good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 3 hours ago, Simon said: I'm thinking no? "There’s something dodgy about portrait artists, and that’s part of their allure. One way or another, they need faces. Often, they steal them and hope nobody complains." Yes, horrible opening sentence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneakeater Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 This is someone who gets PAID to write about food? Quote the lobster chou farci ($31) stood out, largely because we had to do a quick Google search to figure out that it was lobster wrapped in cabbage  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneakeater Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 Holy shit that was written by the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Just below: "a whole Dover sole, and a pork shoulder" I ate a pork shoulder once and I was stuffed, even without the whole sole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 And below that: Quote In most of the Spanish-speaking world the fried pig skin, chicharrones, are popular, but in the Philippines the dish is given a unique spin. Chunks of skin and fat are cut into bite-size pieces and fried in lard, creating the perfect crunch-to-squish ratio and a deep porky flavor. That's how everyone does it. Can I stop reading now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backyardchef Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 And to think, people often ask why I don't read any food writing..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchW Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 39 minutes ago, Sneakeater said: Holy shit that was written by the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. You took the words... However, I'm thankful (though not 100% certain) that person did not have to look up oeufs mayo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneakeater Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 I hope for her sake she never encounters peche à la frog. She'll NEVER figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Catastrophe is the word I'd use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongo Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 oh no, i'd've had to google lobster chou farci too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchW Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 2 hours ago, mongo said: oh no, i'd've had to google lobster chou farci too. U don’t know what lobster is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongo Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 type of mushroom, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchW Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 10 hours ago, mongo said: type of mushroom, right? A delicious one, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfrid Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Obviously should be homard chou farci. :menu-snob: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.