Critic in Disguise

This blog post is going to be a bit different than all the others. Rather than discussing prevalent issues or interesting ideas pertaining to the food industry, I will be examining those who examine what we eat when we go out - namely, restaurant critics. The readings for this blog are in preparation for my next essay in which I write a review on Cornell dining hall food.

In "An Appetite for Disguise," Ruth Reichl describes the measures she must take as restaurant critic of The New York Times. If people knew what she looked like, they would surely treat her differently than the rest of the customers, which would not give her an accurate representation of the restaurants she visited. To solve this problem, Reichl decided that she would put on disguises when she ate out - and oddly enough, she really morphed into the people she pretended to be. With each alter-ego, from the "brazen blonde," Chloe, to "frumpy old" Betty, she not only had different appearances, but also different tastes. This doesn't seem possible to me, but if that's how she kept her true identity a secret, all the more power to her.

What this article teaches at its core is that everybody is a potential food critic. This means that restaurants must always put their best effort into their dishes, must always be kind and polite to customers, must always provide the best service they can. It's sad that restaurants feel like they need to convey a better image of their facility when a critique comes to town - why don't they always give forth their best effort? This week when I critique RPCC dining, I am hoping for nothing but the best of service and quality. They don't know I'm a critic, though, so we'll have to see how it goes.