We’ve heard from Elissa Altman! Please check the comment section of Food Fights and Starry Bites to read her comment and leave responses.
The Hartford Courant Reader’s Rep, Karen Hunter, used last Sunday’s column to further clarify the Elissa Altman/Prime Seafood and Steak Restaurant controversy. As earlier noted, the Courant parted ways with freelance food critic Altman after an investigation into her negative review of Prime in Torrington.
Spurred by reader’s complaints that the Courant was pandering to advertising dollars and not sticking by Altman such as, “As it appears to have been settled, the truth is fuzzy and appears less important than simply pleasing the offended restaurant,” Hunter responds:
Nothing is ever simple, however. As with any news story, editors take questions about accuracy and fairness seriously, regardless of the source of those questions. The facts on which an opinion is based have to be unimpeachable and verifiable, from the first paragraph down to expense reports.
Naedine Hazell, assistant managing editor for features and business, would only say, “There were standards that we thought were explicit but apparently were not.”
The Courant also gave Altman a chance to address claims that she misrepresented her number of dining companions, commented on food she didn’t order, and to defend the amount of food she actually tried.
Old news, I suppose. Case closed. The one thing that I liked about the article was that it stated that going forward, the Courant would expect critics to adhere strictly to the Association of Food Journalist guidelines for food reviews.
It’s a good read, especially with regards to how many times a critic should eat at an establishment before writing about it (at least twice, preferably visiting on both a weekday and weekend); how long to wait to review a newly opened restaurant (a month, or else note that it’s a first impression and be descriptive, not critical); and what the 4-Star Rating System really means.
I’ve been interested in the star system ever since I spoke to Michael Gannon, the former “Fork on the Left” food critic for the Courant’s now defunct Northeast Magazine section, about it a few years ago. Gannon was a very strict disciple of the guidelines. Ruth Reichl’s “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Live of a Critic in Disguise” is great read too if you’re interested.
As far as I know, the Courant hasn’t given out stars since they discontinued Northeast. The Hartford Advocate uses a star system to rate restaurants, although more than a few reviews that I’ve read on their site indicates that they visit only once and usually for lunch. There is no explanation as to how they award their stars. I really think they need to explain their rating system, especially since the public most likely looks at all “stars” the same and once a restaurant is branded, it has to live with it.
Here’s an update from the Courant on the matter of their food critic, Elissa Altman, who wrote an incendiary review of Prime Seafood and Steak in Torrington which was featured in an earlier Scary Bunnies post, Hartford Courant Critics Criticized.
The paper reviewed Prime’s claims that Altman was dining with one other companion (she mentions “companions” in her review), tried only a few dishes (and not the rib eye that she commented on), an alleged phone conversation with their reservation person, misquoting of prices and general embellishment of details about the restaurant.
The verdict:
The reviewer stands by both descriptions and her portrayal of her overall dining experience.
Going forward, the reviewer, a free-lancer, and The Courant agree that the reviewer will no longer write for the newspaper.
The newspaper will strive to honor its commitment to informative and accurate restaurant reviews that help diners make the best choices based on a broad sampling of the food.
You can track more comments on the story on the Courant’s reader representative blog.
Is Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant TV critic, going to take the buy-out package he was offered? A lot of people don’t like him, but I love his crankiness. He’s like the weird uncle who sits in your grandmother’s living room all afternoon, watching television and screaming about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket. You know, my kind of guy.
Why was food critic Elissa Altman’s review of Prime in Torrington pulled from the Hartford Courant website (view the cache here) or even allowed to go up in the first place? This is her second run-in with the residents of Torrington, blasting another restaurant, The Venetian, in an earlier column. Was she fired, as Bob Zemmel from Oxford, CT, asserts in the comment section:
As of yesterday Elissa Altman no longer works for the Courant as a restaurant reviewer or in any other capacity. So please use your own judgement and ignore the review,- for whatever poor attempt at journalism that it was.
I originally noticed this on the Chowhound website, where the discussion is now at 28 posts and raging from everything to claims that all of Altman’s reviews were pulled from the Courant site to discussions about how much food critics get paid.
When are they going to hand Greg Morago his walking papers? Hopefully they’ll give him ample time to clean out the tubs of snacking butter he probably has stashed under his desk.
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