In what will be a recurring online column on the Post’s site, Steve Cuozzo tries to shut up restaurateurs, such as Alain Ducasse and Alain Allegretti, who’ve been sniping back at critics: “No more bellyaching. No lip about how critics don’t ‘get’ what you’re doing. You knew what you were in for when you decided to open a restaurant. Deal with it.” Here’s Cuozzo on Adam Platt’s recent run-ins.
Alain Allegretti, chef/owner of Provencal-themed Allegretti, recently took a swipe at New York Magazine’s Adam Platt on Gothamist.com, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten grumped on his own blog about Platt’s writeup of Matsugen.
Platt wrote harshly of both new restaurants, which were mostly praised everywhere else. But since, as Allegretti said, “19 other reviews” loved his place, why should he flip out over one that didn’t?
And did the great Vongerichten really stoop to claiming Platt “misunderstood” Matsugen? I like Matsugen a lot. Platt didn’t. But his take on it was come by as honestly as my own contrarian take on Dovetail. Yet I don’t recall Dovetail’s chef, John Fraser, bitching that I didn’t get it.
Without speaking for Platt, we have to (respectfully!) disagree with Cuozzo here. (Clearly we do, or we wouldn’t have let Andy Yang respond to Bruni’s review of Kurve.) Just like restaurateurs knew what they were dealing with when they opened shop, reviewers should know that when they criticize someone’s business (however justified they may be in doing so), the owner has every right to defend it. Whether or not the defense is credible is another matter — and one for the blogs to discuss! Maybe Cuozzo will find a new appreciation for engagement and interaction now that he has entered the online sphere.
Shut Up [NYP]
