The Jillian Bolger Column

Although she is often that soldier herself, Food & Travel Writer JILLIAN BOLGER sometimes finds herself Critical of Critics

Last month I found myself reading reviews of a new restaurant in three different newspapers in a single weekend. It was as if their critics had made some sort of pact to allow a month’s bedding-in period before they all rushed in the door the same week.

The idea of waiting more than a few weeks to review a new opening seems positively quaint these days and predates the immediacy that the internet has brought to restaurant reviewing. The American Association of Food Journalists has guidelines for critics, recommending that, “reviewers should wait at least one month after the restaurant starts serving before visiting. These few weeks give the fledgling enterprise some time to get organised…”

It seems wonderfully democratic and fair (although their suggestion that critics pay two or more visits before writing their review is the kind of idealism we, in Ireland, can only dream of.) In truth, most Irish reviewers afford new places a 3-4 week bedding-in period – unless it’s a high profile opening.

Pichet had most critics in on their first week. Oliver Dunne’s Cleaver East only got to wait two days before a critic famously appeared; Enda McEvoy’s Loam, in Galway, had a critic in for dinner on opening night.

A week might seem unfair; two days ridiculous; opening night, positively daft. Even with quality training no one is going to be a star performer on their first week in any new job: neither teacher nor pharmacist nor waiter. In fairness to Oliver Dunne, Cleaver East acknowledged the potential to under-deliver by discounting diner’s food bills by 20% in their first month.

Soft openings are common practice in the business, though four weeks is an unusually long period. It won praise while highlighting the reality that, even with top chefs at the stove, missteps are likely to be made. It takes time for any new team to gel as a cohesive unit and soft openings allow for necessary tweaks to be made.

Arguments abound that if restaurants aren’t ready to be reviewed in those early days then perhaps they should offer discounts. In an industry with high opening costs and overheads this isn’t a realistic business model for most. Most diners hitting a restaurant on opening week are smart enough to know that there’s a risk. Many are there because they like being first to a hot new prospect, and often they’re happy to take the trade off.

While critics want to be first to report on that hot new opening, print media is fighting a losing battle with the internet. Certainly food lovers expect to read about the latest restaurant from their favourite newspaper, but the majority aren’t holding out for an opening week report card from a fledgling set-up.

The race to be first loses its value when critics end up assessing a diamond in the rough. The public can find that kind of commentary on the web, where amateur reviews are ten-a-penny. TripAdvisor, Menu Pages, Yelp and Zomato have turned everyone into a restaurant critic, with reviews frequently published while the diner is still sitting in the restaurant.

Print journalists simply can’t compete, nor, would I argue, do their readers want them to. Wait a few weeks, I say, and they’re likely to find themselves enjoying a superior experience.

The public is hungry to know about new places, and it wants to know about them fast, but there’s nothing stopping newspaper critics flagging new openings, with full reviews coming down the road. First impressions tend to last, especially those delivered by professional critics, so I’m calling for a little consideration. Three weeks seem fair - even two, perhaps - but can everyone please stop swooping in during opening week?

This article first appeared in Food & Wine Magazine and is reproduced with their kind permission. www.foodandwinemagazine.ie

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Jillian Bolger is an award-winning editor and journalist specialising in food and travel writing. A member of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild and former editor of Food & Wine magazine (1999-2003) she writes for The Irish Independent, Image, Food & Wine Magazine, Image Interiors and The Herald and is editor of Irish Brides magazine. She has worked with Georgina Campbell’s ireland-guide.com since 2008 and is the Dublin Editor. Jillian has won several awards for her travel writing and holds an honours degree in the Arts. Her love of travel has seen her live in Australia, Sri Lanka, the USA and Germany. She lives in Dublin with her husband and three young children. Follow her on Twitter at @JillianBolger