Every restaurant wants to get a good review in the paper, whether they actually like the reviewer or not, and there have been so many books from the critic's perspective (Garlic and Sapphires, for example) that most people don't have a clue has to how a restaurant actually handles a review, good and bad. The Denver Posts's dining critic, Tucker Shaw, sat down with restaurateur Danny Meyer to try to get some perspective on how reviews are seen from the other side of the kitchen door.
Meyer has 11 New York restaurants, including Grammercy Tavern and Eleven Madison Park, so he is certainly no stranger to reviews. He says that all reviews will have positive and negative consequences, regardless of the content of the review. Reviews bring the team together, creating a support system that helps the kitchen perform better. Negative reviews not only drive customers away, but they also drop morale, meaning that some staff members might leave, too. Positive reviews can set the bar too high, leaving new customers disappointed and spreading negative word-of-mouth.
Meyer, while he and his staff members have some coping strategies, also said that restaurant critics and restaurants need each other to some degree and, no matter what the reviews are like, he tries to make sure that everything is always done the best that it can be. In the end, he rightly points out, it is the diner that makes the final decision, whether they believe the review or not.
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