NEW YORK —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Stung by a less-than-favorable review of his newly opened Kobe Club steakhouse here, Chodorow assailed Bruni in a full-page Times ad in which he accused the critic of attacking him personally—marking the latest public battle in the ongoing war between operators whose livelihoods hinge on good press and critics who don’t always dispense it. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Chodorow declared that Bruni’s review of Kobe Club, a luxury steakhouse specializing in high-ticket Kobe beef, “was as much or more about me than it was the restaurant.” He alleged that Bruni and other Times reviewers “have been very hard on me” since Chodorow collaborated with chef Rocco DiSpirito on Rocco’s, the focus of DiSpirito’s reality television show, “The Restaurant.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Chodorow’s company, New York-based China Grill Management, operates more than 20 restaurants, including China Grill, Asia De Cuba, Hudson Cafeteria and Tuscan Steak. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
“I don’t know what I actually did to engender these attacks,” Chodorow wrote. “I opened Rocco’s with the best of intentions.” His objections were presented in the form of a letter to Pete Wells, editor of the Dining In/Dining Out section of the Times. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Bruni, for his part, said Chodorow’s assertions are unfounded. “I understand Mr. Chodorow’s disappointment with the Kobe Club review and other assessments I’ve made of some of his recent restaurants,” Bruni said in an e-mail to Nation’s Restaurant News. “But I assure you that these reflected my honest opinions, not any personal bias against him.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Bruni, the Times’ chief restaurant critic, rated Kobe Club “satisfactory,” one of the lowest grades in the Times’ rating system. Restaurants can be awarded up to four stars. Kobe Club was awarded none. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
This editorial dust-up does not mark the first time a restaurateur has purchased an ad in The New York Times to respond to what was perceived as being unfair criticism. A number of New York operators have dug deep into their pockets over the years to respond in kind to the Times’ powerful reviewers. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
A two-year war of words between former Times restaurant critic Bryan Miller and restaurateurs Harry and Giuseppe Cipriani reached a crescendo in 1987 when Miller panned Bellini by Cipriani, the now-shuttered father-and-son team’s midtown Manhattan restaurant. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Harry Cipriani fired back in a Times ad that Miller’s views were not even necessarily his own. Cipriani wrote that the reviews “are directed and decided by a small provincial-minded and snobbish congregation formed by four or five counselors, some of whom are even multistar restaurant owners.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
But while having the last word might be satisfying for an aggrieved restaurateur, it also can be expensive. The cost of placing a full-page ad in the Times’ dining section today is almost $84,000, according to published reports. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
However, it apparently is not the only form of redress open to operators. A court in Belfast, Ireland, recently ruled that the Irish News must pay £25,000—about $40,000 U.S.—plus court costs to Ciarnan Convery, the owner of Goodfellas, an Italian restaurant, for a review he claimed was a “hatchet job.” The court ruled that food critic Caroline Workman’s review was defamatory in its criticism of the restaurant’s food, staff and atmosphere. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
The newspaper said it is appealing the ruling, claiming it raises questions involving freedom of the press. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
The New York Times’ Bryan Miller also was sued after he asserted in a review that the celebrity photos on the wall of Patsy’s, a popular Italian restaurant in mid-town, were not given to the place by the stars themselves. That battle was notable in that it saw singer Frank Sinatra featured in a full-page ad in the Times in which he assured readers that he was a long-time fan of the restaurant. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Chodorow said he wrote the open letter to let Wells know that Kobe Club’s staff—the “innocent bystanders”—were the ones likely to be hurt by the review. He also cited his desire to sound off about Bruni’s lack of training to be a critic, noting that the reviewer was previously a political writer. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
In the Feb. 7 review, Bruni noted the restaurant’s proficiency with Kobe beef—“the fabled flesh,” as Bruni put it—but said the place presented “too many insipid or insulting dishes at prices that draw blood from anyone without a trust fund or an expense account.” He cited such prices as the $190 charge for a four-flight sampling menu of wagyu-style beef and American Prime, and the $48 for a 12-ounce filet. “What’s more,” he wrote, “servers seem intent on plumping up the tab.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Bruni also cited “a rubbery roast pork chop,” “limp” iceberg lettuce and “gluey” mashed potatoes. Bruni reported that some of the items were “alarming” because their taste was off. A clam had a metallic tang, he said, and a strip loin “had a sourness that didn’t taste like aging or, for that matter, like anything anyone had intended.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
In his open letter, Chodorow acknowledged the “errant” clam. “Unfortunately, bad clams happen,” he wrote. But that didn’t warrant a no-stars rating, he asserted. He pointed out that Kobe Club had been favorably reviewed by “respected” critics such as Gael Greene of New York magazine, Bob Lape of Crain’s New York and John Mariani, who writes for Esquire magazine and Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet Newsletter. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Both Lape and Mariani stood by their earlier reviews, and said Kobe Club deserved better than a “satisfactory” rating from the Times. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
“I gave it three out of four stars,” Lape said. “I thought it was darned good—although I found the decor bizarre. But [Kobe Club] is designed to be an over-the-top kind of place, from the price to the product to the look.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Mariani, who reviewed the restaurant in his Virtual Gourmet Newsletter, said he thought Chodorow was right. “I think the review was more about [Chodorow] and not about the restaurant—although I don’t think Bruni is vindictive,” he said. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
Nevertheless, Mariani added, “I think it should have had at least one star.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
In his Dec. 31 review of Kobe Club, Mariani wrote: “Make no mistake: This is one of the most expensive restaurants in the U.S., where you can easily spend $200 a person—a half-pound slab of Japanese filet runs $190, and a 28-ounce Australian porterhouse $390—but you’re getting top quality.” —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.
In his letter, Chodorow concluded by saying he had started a blog on which he subsequently would review restaurants that had been critiqued by Bruni and “After Adam,” an apparent reference to New York magazine reviewer Adam Platt. —Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow has a big beef with The New York Times’ restaurant critic Frank Bruni.