Bloggers v Critics (Again....)

I've been umming and aahing over the last few days about whether to post this article on the blog. A large part of me wants to ignore this issue but what's the point of having a blog if you don't use it to vent your frustrations. My beef is with Time Out's review of Empress of Sichuan, which ends on a bizarre note with critic Guy Dimond having a gratuitous dig at a boorish blogger.

At the next table, a food blogger was being hosted by two men who appeared to be restaurant managers. The blogger boasted about his blogging contacts and his love for Chinese food, but also how there were some things on this menu he wasn't prepared to eat – ears being among them. His companions were, of course, all ears. Don’t be surprised to read shilling about this Empress elsewhere.

Dimond's comments didn't really bother me until there was speculation that either The London Foodie and/or I were part of the group mentioned by him. However, if you read either my write-up or The London Foodie's review then you'd realise that our party of three consisted of two bloggers and LF’s friend.

And given that LF's review includes a copy of the bill, you can also work out that we paid for our meal and weren't in the pockets of the management. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't upset that some might think that I was the boorish blogger in Dimond's review but I think there is a far wider issue that affects all food bloggers.

Dimond's craven comments imply that any positive reviews of Empress of Sichuan by bloggers should be taken with a pinch of salt due to the behaviour of this one rogue blogger. Or to put it another way, he's saying that his review of this restaurant is more trustworthy than any blog.

He also propagates the view held by many in the mainstream media that food bloggers are a bunch of blaggers and braggarts who are easily swayed by restaurant PR's. I don't doubt that there are some nefarious food bloggers out there but my experience of the blogosphere is contrary to this bleak view.

Like most food bloggers, I blog about food because it's a passion that I like to share with friends, old and new. Funnily enough, I didn't start blogging to get free meals and besides if I wanted freebies, I doubt writing blog posts on noodles was necessarily the best way of going about it.

The final word, I have on this matter is to challenge Dimond to name the blogger. Given that he overheard so much of the conversation, why doesn't he name and shame ? Otherwise, us bloggers have to put up with the insinuation that we're less honest than journalists !

{Update 13 February 2010 – since this post was first written, Guy Dimond has left a comment on the Time Out website clarifying some points he made in his original review. He doesn’t really address the issue that he indiscriminately attacked all bloggers but he does congratulate himself on having ‘killed’ the potential rogue blog review that is lurking out there. Well done, Guy !

I still remain bemused how the ‘Chinese whispers’ got so out of hand that anybody thought that either London Foodie or I were the bloggers that Dimond saw. Anyone who reads our respective blogs should’ve quickly deduced that we’re not that kind of people. And just to clarify, there was no third blogger at the dinner, merely LF’s mate.

Anyway, I’d like to draw a line under this issue, important as it is, I much prefer writing about food. You can continue to leave comments on this post but please don’t be offended if I don’t reply.}