Food Critics: Watch Your Backs

The game is changing for food critics and bloggers. The information we communicate to our readers isn’t merely timely anymore. It’s instant. Case-in-point can be found at John Curtas’s Eating Las Vegas blog.

He recently reviewed one of my favorite places to eat in Las Vegas, Battista’s Hole in the Wall. This Italian joint has been cranking-out America’s take on Italian cuisine since the 70s. That means you’ll find plenty of red sauce and cheap wine (included with the mean, by the way) on the table. Battista’s does what they do very well, and I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say that Battista’s served me some of the best filet mignon I have ever had. But Curtas wasn’t there just for the filet. He was there to check back in with them, ten years since his previous visit, to see if the time-honored menu had gotten stale.

While sitting at his table, Curtas updated his Facebook with a comment about Battista’s menu being over 40 years old. I guess he forgot that Battista’s Chef Richard Gibson is his Facebook friend. Moments later, Gibson was at Curtas’s table discussing the “old” menu with him. I’m happy to see that (a) Gibson was cool about the whole thing, and (b) Curtas was willing to discuss his opinions with the chef who prepared his food.

The lesson here is that if you are going to update Twitter or Facebook about your dining experience while sitting in the restaurant, be prepared to face the person who made it.