Confessions of a food reviewer

The Australian's chief restaurant critic, John Lethlean. Photo: Adam Knott. Source: Supplied

BEING paid to eat at some of the best restaurants in the country seems like the best job in the world — but it's not as easy as it sounds.

Some of Australia's most popular and respected food critics say they are "outraged" at claims in a new food magazine that their reviews are not independent.

In an interview to promote the release of restaurant guide Gault & Millau in Australia, Gault & Millau Australia's chief judge Mark Dorrell was quoted as criticising the objectivity of other food reviewers.

"Locally in Australia, there's The Age Good Food Guide and others, but they speak to the restaurants weeks in advance so the establishments can create the best dish on the day, buy the best meat, get the best staff. It's not a fair review," GRAM magazine reported Mr Dorrell as saying.

GRAM magazine's website crashed on Wednesday before the story was removed from the site and a retraction was published. News.com.au has obtained a copy of the original article.

Many senior food critics have told news.com.au they are furious at the comments attributed to Mr Dorrell.

"I know we're not curing cancer or fighting fires here, but we still make the effort to do our jobs properly and professionally," said Pat Nourse, chief restaurant critic at Gourmet Traveller magazine.

"Everyone who reviews for Gourmet Traveller, I can say, is briefed to visit restaurants they're reviewing under an assumed name. The idea that we...prearrange reviews is pure fantasy."

The Australian's chief food critic John Lethlean said: "If this is a reflection of Mark Dorrell's professionalism, it doesn't say much about his guide."

Peter Gilmore's Guava Snow Egg at Quay Restaurant in Sydney. Picture: Justin Lloyd Source: News Limited

Time Out Australia's chief food and drink critic, Myffy Rigby, says she doesn't accept freebies.

"I ring up the restaurant to make a booking under an assumed name. That's the only contact I have with the restaurant until our photographer calls to say, 'Can we come in and take some photos?' after I've been in. I pay for my own meal. Everything is totally above board."

Terry Durack, who writes for Fairfax Media, says Dorrell's comments were "totally without foundation, and quite scurrilous."

"In the 30 years I have been a reviewer, I have always booked under an assumed name, never alerted a restaurant of my impending visit, and always paid for my meals," he said. "The notion that I would warn a restaurant two weeks in advance that I will be reviewing would be laughable if it wasn't such a malicious thing to say. If you ask any chef in Sydney, he or she will tell you the same thing."

On Wednesday afternoon, Gault & Millau published a statement addressing the article:

"Gault & Millau and Mark Dorrell do not support [the statement in GRAM magazine]. This specific statement was not made by Mark Dorrell and was taken out of context. During the interview Mark mentioned he was aware of some restaurants being alerted to a pending review yet did not identify who the review publications were or suggest it happens frequently. Gault & Millau regrets any distress caused."

Tetsuya's famous confit ocean trout with kombu. Source: News Limited

GRAM magazine also published a retraction and an apology.

"This oversight and error in judgment is something we deeply regret. We have taken stock, and indeed have learnt a very hard, but very valuable lesson. In turn, we have reviewed, and adjusted our editorial and interview policies to ensure an error of this nature does not happen again. For the record, we did not misquote the interviewee. We apologise for any distress this article has caused. It was not our intention to perpetuate misinformation."

GRAM magazine has released audio of Mr Dorell's interview and this is actually what he said:

"From a local perspective, The Age Good Food Guide and the SMH food guide were the only publications doing an annual guide on such a big scale, and they have in Sydney around 300 restaurants, cafes etc — we looked at their processing and how they review restaurants — we spoke to the restaurants and asked how they do it — they said they get the phone call two weeks in advance saying Terry Durack is going to come in on that day on that time and the restaurants go into panic and get themselves the best meat, the best fish, the best staff for that day — it's not a fair review in any case and we think because we are independent we work in the completely opposite way — I don't actually judge restaurants."

A dish of egg with toasted rice and brown butter at Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney. Source: News Limited

So how does a food critic really go about reviewing a restaurant? To clear things up, News.com.au asked The Australian's John Lethlean how he does it.

1. Book under a different name

"You can't book online because that gives too much away. You have to book by telephone. But that can actually be difficult. I went to a restaurant recently that doesn't even publish a phone number on its website.

"I try and get my wife to make the phone call for me. We book in an assumed name. We just plug a name out of the air that we can remember. We use her telephone number so they don't recognise my phone number."

2. Arrive without a fuss

"My personal approach is to try and not draw any attention to myself. I ask my wife, or whoever I'm dining with, to actually go into the restaurant first and be seated at the table. I do that so when I walk in about a minute later, the focus isn't on me.

"My guest has already been greeted and the water poured, menus given out. Once you're seated and greeted the waiter's attention is off you. They might not even recognise that a second person has arrived at the table. The maitre'd will do the meet and greet but then you'll get a regular waiter put on your table. There's a lot less chance of a regular waiter recognising me than the maitre'd, who has been in the game for longer. And I just slide in and sit down.

"It's also good to see how they treat the average person. If they treat my guest like s***, then you can write that they don't treat their customers very well."

3. Try a variety of dishes

"From that point on you just behave like regular punters. I don't order every dish on the menu. You used to order two entrees, two mains and two desserts, but our style of eating has changed dramatically. There are no rules.

"It's just a question of ordering a satisfactory amount of food. But I'm a glutton so I order a lot of food and I eat a lot of food anyway. You eat a sufficient amount so you can leave with an idea of their style of food and their competency."

4. Avoid getting noticed.

"I take notes on my phone or iPad. If I'm eating alone it just looks like I'm a solo diner filling in time. I take a note of the special dishes and usually the main menu is published online.

Unfortunately my credit card has my name on it, and occasionally they'll say, 'Oh you're John Lethlean?' but most of the time they don't notice.

"I bought a digital camera to take photos of the food. I started taking photos a long time before the food blogger ever emerged. It's not unusual to see someone taking photos of their food in a restaurant nowadays so it doesn't really draw much attention.

"For those of us that review professionally, food reviewing is a big investment on the part of the employer. The Australian pays the bill. I would spend at least $30,000, maybe $40,000 a year on food. A lot of the bloggers are just writing about freebies."

News.com.au has contacted Mark Dorrell for comment.

Do you know more? Email rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au

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