I always tell people that they are really the critics. If people come three times a week to your restaurant they are the ones who find something they really love.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The great mystery to me is how restaurant critics think they can get away with doing their job without anybody noticing who they are.
Especially in the food business, critics take very seriously how much power they have. They can shut a restaurant down.
I think the trouble with artists or chefs who whine about criticism is that if you love the good reviews, you have to at least read the bad ones.
I've got the public. I don't care about the critics. I did at one time. I don't any more. I did when I needed compliments. But if you get a lot of compliments, you don't need a critic to tell you, 'This should be done another way.'
You never want to sound bitter about critics, because they're entitled to do their job, too, but I place much more trust in a person who I can look in the eye and someone who I know I share some kind of taste with - so my friends, for instance. For me, a critic is unknown and therefore irrelevant.
I think critics are very useful. But I think that they, in a way, betray their position when they stop people looking for themselves.
The truth is, as much as I loved writing restaurant reviews, it always felt very self-indulgent to me. It was so much fun, I loved doing it, but there's so much else to say about food.
But I honestly don't read critics. My dad reads absolutely everything ever written about me. He calls me up to read ecstatic reviews, but I always insist that I can't hear them. If you give value to the good reviews, you have to give value to the criticism.
I know, whoever visits my restaurant, they have loved the food.
Oh, I love critics. Because they love me. It's not a joke. They care.