LA Times food critic photographed & ousted from restaurant, photo posted online

[Liberal_in_LA]

Food critic outed and ousted from restaurant


www.eater.com
Our purpose for posting this is so that all restaurants can have a picture of her and make a decision as to whether or not they would like to serve her. We find that some her reviews can be unnecessarily cruel and irrational, and that they have caused hard-working people in this industry to lose their jobs -- we don't feel that they should be blind-sided by someone with no understanding of what it takes to run or work in a restaurant.
http://eater.com/archives/2010/12/22/la-times-critic-s-irene-virbila-outed-by-angry-restaurateurs.php

Times critic S. Irene Virbila was waiting for a table at Red Medicine when the manager snapped her photo and told her to leave. It sparked a debate over whether modern critics can — or should — remain anonymous

Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila ducked into Red Medicine, a new Beverly Hills restaurant, for some modern Vietnamese food the other night, but got nothing to eat. Instead, she was outed and ousted, her party turned away, her picture snapped and critic's anonymity shredded by the restaurateur himself.

"I always knew at some point a blogger or somebody would take a secret photo. But I never expected that a restaurateur would stick a camera in my face," Virbila said Wednesday.

Virbila was rebuffed, Red Medicine managing partner Noah Ellis said, because "Irene is not the person any of us wanted reviewing our restaurant. … This was not a rash decision."


By Wednesday afternoon, the photo of Virbila was posted on several blogs and websites, including the much-viewed Gawker.com and Eater.com. Virbila's anonymity, which she'd guarded through 16 years as this newspaper's restaurant critic, was a memory. And among foodies, the debate over anonymity — is it still possible or even advisable for a restaurant critic? — was on.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-critic-20101223,0,2330320.story

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. I can think of one restaurant that's going to get a very bad review, and rightly so. n/m

[smiley]

4. every restaurant I've worked in...

has had a sign which said "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone".

Obviously, she was unwelcome at that restaurant.

[lunatica]

20. Anonymity can corrupt the soul of certain people every bit as much as the

love of money can. Anyone who can make or break people based on their particular tastes is by nature already corrupt.

[former9thward]

42. So anyone writing restaurant reviews is corrupt?

Do you own a restaurant that got a bad review?

[rucky]

26. If she would give a bad review for a restaurant she didn't eat at...

then she deserves to be kicked out.

[Vickers]

35. Ding! Ding!

:thumbsup:

(full disclosure: I've worked in restaurants)

[MH1]

38. I would expect another critic, who values their anonymity, to handle it. nt

[former9thward]

44. She was waiting to be seated.

She did not write a bad review of anything that she did not eat at. This restaurant obviously has shoddy practices that that fear a review.

[DeSwiss]

43. She can't criticize the quality of food she never ate. n/t

[CLANG]

2. If your career and livelihood depends on anonymity - you are doomed to eventually flipping burgers

I have no compassion for her except the same compassion that any soul deserves in this world.

[RKP5637]

3. Sounds like a restaurant to avoid by default. n/t

[alphafemale]

5. really.

Shows me they know their food sucks.

[rhett o rick]

10. Interesting comment from a Democrat. Siding with the man. I support the independence. Fuck the man.

[petronius]

12. I would have thought that the capitalist oppressor was more 'The Man' than

the truth-to-power speaking journalist... :shrug:

[K8-EEE]

14. I know right? Bev Hills restaurant owner is "the victim?"

Um, what?? lol

[loudsue]

16. Then you must be new here. Journalists are right-wing-paid propagandists

for the most part. There are only a few that don't toe the corporate line.

[MicaelS]

22. How the fuck can a restaurant critic be a

right-wing-paid propagandist???

[rhett o rick]

17. Thanks for that. LOL. A snobby restaurant critic and "truth to power". LOL.

Good one.

[Codeine]

27. Restaurant critics are journalists now?

Seriously, some old windbag pontificating about the deconstructed ratatouille at Chez Dirtbutton is neither Woodward nor Bernstein.

[DeSwiss]

45. Oh. You mean like the NYT dance critic who criticized a 98 lb woman as being fat?

And of having eaten one too many sugar-plums? Is that the kind of "truth-to-power journalism" you're talking about?

Hmmmm?????

[pacalo]

6. The manager doesn't have a head for business. I wonder if his behavior speaks for the

quality of the food & service.

[rhett o rick]

11. You "wonder"? I appreciate his failure to bow to the bullshit. I would assume he doesnt need to beg

for a good review.

[pacalo]

24. So, the point of directing that at me was that you're telling me I'm wrong to feel that way?

I'm not converted.

[rhett o rick]

39. You can think/say what you like. I appreciate that the manager put his feelings ahead of his "busine

business head" and didnt kowtow to the snobby critic.

[pacalo]

41. You can think what you like, as well, but what interested me was that you

directed your anger at my opposing view, which comes off as authoritarian, instead of replying to the OP.

This goes on a lot on DU, I know, but observing it so often has taught me patience with opposing views.

[rhett o rick]

46. What did I say that makes you think I am angry? Have a good holiday. nm

[FSogol]

7. Why do some here take her side? Isn't it our right to face our accusers?

:shrug:

[K8-EEE]

15. Enough to tell her, we know who you are and

We don't want you to review this restaurant, so we decline to give you a table.

Making the party wait for 40 minutes, then doing the photo and etc., just plain rude. Reviewers are a part of the restaurant business. Frankly I think the professional ones are more fair than the anonymous "Yelp / real people" reviewers which are sometimes just competitors or people with a bone to pick personally with the owner..

[Stevenmarc]

21. Total nonsense

This is not a court of law it's a restaurant and a restaurant critics anonymity insures that they get the same food and restaurant experience as any average diner that visits the establishment.

[customerserviceguy]

23. This isn't court

One restaurant reviewer's opinions are only relevant if other people take them seriously. If she were a mere hack, few would accord her any respect. Clearly, her paper thinks otherwise.

Reviewers are part of the public's voice on the quality of goods and services sold in a free economy. Anonymity means that any business wanting a good review means that all customers deserve to get treated as well as an influential writer.

I don't know anything about this reviewer or this restaurant, but the "secret shopper" is something that good businesses use to keep themselves ahead of their competition. I approve wholeheartedly the idea that everyone, regular known customer, or one-time visitor be treated with the same dignity and respect.

[somone]

8. Sounds overpriced - $12 for a Vietnamese sandwich?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-medicine-beverly-hills

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. \

\

[K8-EEE]

13. It was rude to make her wait 40 minutes and then throw her out

The restaurant guy sounds like such an ass. My feeling is if the management is that rude to her they would be to another customer as well. They should have politely asked her to leave, requested not to be reviewed, if they are afraid of the review.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Stevenmarc]

19. Looks like Virbila will be the new owner of Red Medicine

She can sue him out of existence for ruining her ability to work as she has been working the past 16 years.

[TexasObserver]

25. She won't get a dime.

She has absolutely no viable cause of action against the restaurant owner.

He has no duty to serve her, to like her, or to shield her image. She's a public person who makes her living criticizing everything from the lighting to the waitstaff. She may wish to remain anonymous, but her published column makes her otherwise.

That's not to say she won't get an attorney. But it is a loser case if she tries.

[Codeine]

28. She has no right to anonymity. nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

29. See this is why I love this fucking place so much.

Take a hundred thousand people or so, and some seem to float to the top. Among DUers who float to the top, some see the critic as "speaking truth to power" and some see the critic as "the man".

How cool is that? A group of people whose hearts are essentially in the same place in the context of the larger picture, but at total extreme opposite ends of the scale on the little stuff.

Gotta love this place!

[Codeine]

30. "Try our new special -- WikiLeek Soup." nt

[Flubadubya]

32. Bwahaha!!

:spray:

[blueamy66]

31. Okay, what is her "real" first nameq

and why does she look like she just crawled outta bed?

[sendero]

33. I think they made a mistake..

... rather than "out" her they should have used their privileged information to make sure she got the best meal possible.

The only possible exception to that would be if she is one of those "critics" that just makes it up, publishes reviews that bear no relationship to the quality of the food.

They seem to be claiming that, but I have no idea if they are correct.

[trumad]

34. I find a great majority of the time

the restaurant critics are dead on in their reviews.

It's like a movie going straight to the theaters before it's been reviewed. The movie maker knows the movie is shit but wants to get it out before it's reviewed like shit.

[AngryOldDem]

36. Food critics can't stay anonymous.

At the newspaper I once worked at, we even went to the extreme to use a line drawing of her for her column ID, rather than a photo like we did other columnists. People still knew who she was.

A lot of legends were built up around her, some of which included favoritism of friends who ran a small place outside of town; giving poor reviews to places that were located in "less-than-trendy" areas; and leaving tips of one penny apiece for herself and her companions at the end of the meal.

I knew her slightly and she was not a nice person. I always took her stuff with a huge, huge grain of salt.

[madinmaryland]

37. Sounds like the restaurant owner is a very accurate shooter of his own foot.

He comes across as snobbish douchebag and basically gives everyone a negative view of his restaurant as if there is something to hide by denying her access to his restaurant.

Since he already knew who she was, he should have served her the best meal of her life (may even video taped it, the service!) Instead, he finds the dumbest thing to do. He even said it was a bad idea.

[rhett o rick]

40. I agree. He should have kowtowed to her every wish and begged for a good review. nm