Monday, June 08, 2009

interesting...

Hmm...something quite interesting just happened in the tiny Sacramento food critic world.  Greg Lucas at the SNR and Blair Robertson at the Sacbee just reviewed the new incarnation of Plan B within a few days of each other.  One review (Lucas') is glowing, the other is a thorough trashing.  One or two of you may remember that I reviewed Plan B for Midmo a year or so ago and was pretty lukewarm.  One particular line I liked compared my duck confit to gnawing on a mummy's leg.  That particular entree was over 20 bucks, and was served quite carelessly.  Also, although Plan B specializes in mussels, the mussels at the restaurant, Ravenous, that is currently in the old Plan B location put Plan B's to shame.  And, the people I dined with all of these times, who live in the Pocket, stopped frequenting Plan B before it moved because of the attitude of the owner that Roberston mentioned, which is indiscreet to say the least.

God knows I've burned too many bridges here on Heckasac before I caught wise to the fact that almost everyone I write about seems to come around to reading it eventually, so I won't say much more, but I don't think I'm alone in saying that Lucas' review leaves a pretty strong impression that the owner knew who he and his friends were (one of his the dudes in his party was David Berkeley), and probably knew he was being reviewed.  That undermines his credibility in commenting on the service and presentation.  Again, this may not be so, but the implication is there.  Also, bringing wine along for a review is pretty useless for the purposes of the review.  He mentions a Saintsbury Pinot Noir, but it's unclear if he ordered that or if David Berkeley brought it.  I sympathize with having trouble writing about a wine list, since I am hardly ever excited about most Sacramento wine lists, so I often just don't mention them.  I won't quibble with the star rating, because I think star ratings are reductive and useless.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love Blair Robertson!

I also love Ravenous, they were super nice to jamattack! and me even though Fabio Nunez never returns my calls.

gbomb

Anonymous said...

Whoops, Fabian.

Liv Moe said...

i like fabio better. new nickname perhaps....

Anonymous said...

I HATE Greg Lucas, who name drops in a food review? Who name drops every single time, even when I have no idea who the person is? Why would I care that you ate with a judge? Seriously, I hate him so much. I keep hoping that aspect of his reviewing will go away, but it doesn't.

Natalie.

beckler said...

I've namedropped Mikermike in one of my reviews before. But that's different because he's famous. And the mental image of him eating a Monte Christo sandwich is quite different than any mere mortal eating the same sandwich.

Anonymous said...

I was there, I understand.
But that was special circumstances.

-Natalie.

Anonymous said...

WTF? I thought you were exaggerating, but Lucas really does name-drop everyone who eats with him, as if it matters to the actual food...it'd be different if he tried to make an actual connection between the two...Which SN&R editor is letting this pass?

beckler said...

moi? exaggerate? never.

Anonymous said...

I am prone to almost constant exaggerating, but this time I may be under stating it.

-Natalie.

undercover caterer said...

The name-dropping is stupid, and so is bringing wine to a restaurant you're reviewing. And no offense, but who brings David Berkeley to review a restaurant? Pretty stealth. Might as well invite Darrell Corti and maybe Biba and get it over with.

beckler said...

Hey Undercover Caterer, I'm interested in your blog. I'll be keeping an eye on it!

Anonymous said...

I've talked to Greg Lucas about the name dropping in his reviews, and he told me that's what the SN&R editors want him to do. He's under orders to name drop.