Arbiters of Taste and the Syracuse Food Scene

I've been sitting on this post for days but decided that it might be a conversation worth having.  A few days ago J, a reader of this blog, brought a restaurant review to my attention that appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard.  It was a pretty unfavorable review of China Road restaurant in Mattydale written by Yolanda Wright.  J and I were both taken aback by the review since we and so many others think China Road is the best Chinese restaurant in the area.  Indeed, it is basically the only one I'll eat at.  But the review raised a number of delicate questions that I think are important to consider if we hope to raise the profile of the Syracuse food scene and support independent, innovative restaurants.

• As I understand it, the food writing standard is to publish a review after several--usually three--visits to a restaurant.  Is it fair to base a review on a single visit (which is, I believe, the Post-Standard custom--due partially to budgetary constraints)?  Would it not be more appropriate to call a single visit write-up something other than a review?

• When searching for the China Road review online, I noticed that the previous week Yolanda Wright had reviewed the Olive Garden.  They were given a glowing review.  But I have two questions:  should chain restaurants be reviewed the same way that independent restaurants are, if at all?  And, if a standardized restaurant like the Olive Garden gets rave reviews while China Road and Circa (remember that $10 hamburger article?) get less than favorable reviews, how will we ever get folks to venture out past the ordinary family dining establishments that they can experience in Any City, USA? 

I raise these questions not to disparage Yolanda Wright--I'm sure that we simply have different tastes in food and she certainly has given good reviews to local restaurants.  However, our culinary scene will never get the attention and patronage it deserves without the support of the local media outlets.  I wonder if China Road had an off night.  Perhaps a second visit would have helped to round out or balance her experience.  The Good Life Central New York magazine (published by the Post-Standard) seems to do a good job at highlighting area chefs but it can't do it on its own.  We have some of the best farms, some wonderfully creative chefs, and some of the best wine being made anywhere right here in Central New York.  What we also need are reviews and articles that tell the world what we know. 

And understand, I'm not advocating only writing about high-end dining establishments.  We have some phenomenal "cheap eats" like the salads at Syra-Juice, the the Thai food at Erawan, and the falafel at Munjeds.  It's not about fancy and expensive, its about taste.  With Central New York appearing in Gourmet and Wine Spectator magazines I think we really need to decide how we want to tell our story right here at home.

Comments

[Lenn]

If you ask me, an admitted food snob, anyone who gives the Olive Garden a good review shouldn't be reviewing restaurants.

Sure, they serve their purpose, but people don't want to hear about chains when they read the paper, do they?

That's embarrassing.

[Stefanie Noble]

I saw that Olive Garden review that week and rolled my eyes. I almost wrote a big post about it, but you've said things more eloquently than I would have.

The thing is, I'm not really totally anti-chain. I think there is something to be said for the comfort of knowing what you are going to get (say, you're traveling and starving and grumpy and just need some decent food). However, I agree that there is absolutely no need to "review" places like Olive Garden and other national chains. WE KNOW WHAT IS THERE. That's the point.

And this is why food blogs are so important to this area, to add more voices into the mix and to talk about the places that don't get mentioned enough.

[Jill Hurst-Wahl]

Review the Olive Garden? Isn't every one of them the same? To me, that was a wasted effort. (BTW Olive Garden holds a special place in my heart because of an event that was held there, but I know that it is a chain. It is not haute cuisine or even food prepared by masterful local chef.)

As for China Road, I do occasionally eat at other Chinese restaurants in the area, but it is the best one. Its reputation as a great place for Chinese food is known well beyond Syracuse. Personally, I have never had a bad (or mediocre) meal at China Road.

I think these two reviews have given us reason to doubt and question how and what the P-S reviews.

Maybe the P-S should allow food bloggers and/or other local foodies to help it do restaurant reviews?!

[Dave S]

Yolanda is a straight-down-the-middle unadventurous diner. Her reviews are predictable, and valid in their context.
If she said service was bad, or the place was dirty, I'd take it seriously. She does a good job summarizing menus and prices.
Maybe China Road had a bad day, maybe she did.

There were negative comments about this review in the P-S forum.

[artsweet]

Yolanda Wright? Yolanda Totally Wrong. The fact that she a) reviewed Olive Garden in the first place and b) gave it a better review than China Road speaks to the hopeless mediocrity that is Syracuse, I'm sorry to say.

[david]

I agree with your contention that a restaurant should be "sampled" more than once.

To counter her reviews, I'd have to add mine: China Road is by far the best local place for Chinese food and Olive Garden is...well... McTalian.

[Jennifer]

Phew, there really is some strong feeling about all of this. Those of us in the Syracuse area know how really great China Road is and that's certainly a part of the frustration. I think I will be in touch with the Post Standard more formally and ask about the policy regarding reviewing chain restaurants. Perhaps they'd be willing to consider a policy change. Thanks everyone for weighing in.

[Katie]

I'd also like to point out that most reviewers don't order bottles of wine with dinner -- no wonder she liked it so much. How annoying.