An appetite to write

By Jessica Hyde

March 8, 2007 | It has been a tiring night of work for Lesli Neilson, The Salt Lake Tribune's food editor and restaurant reviewer.

Neilson dined with friends and colleagues at Salt Lake City's Bambara restaurant. She spent the evening tasting enchantingly delightful entrees such as togarashi-encrusted ahi tuna with mango-ginger sauce, pan seared scallops atop a bed of pureed parsnips, and a perfectly-cooked medium rare filet mignon. The best part of the evening was that her bill went straight to her boss.

Sounds like the perfect job. What could be better than eating out at new restaurants every week, while handing your boss the bill? But Neilson said being a food critic is not always a bed of roses. Reviewing is not for everyone.

"It's really tough," she said. "You need to be prepared to deal with very nasty emails."

Neilson said the actual writing of the review is a challenge as well. "It is very formulaic writing. You must find ways to keep your writing fresh each week while still covering the same information: Appetizers, entrees, desserts, service, and decor."

In addition, Neilson said eating a lot of mediocre food is inevitable and that a food critic constantly runs the risk of getting sick.

So what exactly is a food critic? She said the first qualification of a food critic is the ability to write, and write well. Then, obviously you must have a good food palette and a sophisticated knowledge of food.

Neilson received her bachelor's in political science. It wasn't until after she graduated that she decided that she wanted to write about food, she said. At that point she attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

Neilson, a native of Salt Lake City, works alongside another restaurant reviewer, Mary Brown Malouf, reviewing Wasatch front restaurants one week at a time. A new restaurant is reviewed each Wednesday in the Tribune.

To be eligible for review in the Tribune a restaurant must meet certain qualifications. It must be open for at least one month prior to the visit by a food critic. The critic visits the restaurant anonymously two times. The critic orders different dishes on both visits, to taste a wide variety of the restaurant's offerings. Usually Neilson attends the restaurant with one to three other guests of her choice. The guests each order an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. Neilson said a lot of take home boxes are necessary when critiquing food because so many menu items are ordered. As soon as the food arrives, the table shuffles plates so Neilson can taste each menu item before it is seasoned and before it gets cold.

Not all food critics do their work anonymously. Jarem Nielsen, a server at Salt Lake City's Roof Restaurant, said he recalls a time when the restaurant was very aware that a food critic was attending.

"We did have some warning that the critic was coming," he said. "I remember this well because it irked me a little. The chef made a special plate or two for the guy. I think that if he's there to critique the restaurant he should have gotten the real experience, not special treatment."

Neilson and Malouf never announce that they will be dining at a specific restaurant. They even go so far as to make reservations under different names each time they dine and use credit cards with different names on them each time they dine.

Each critic's reviewing process is different. Neilson said she never takes notes while in the restaurant.

"I usually come prepared with everything in the car so the second I get out I can begin writing notes and initial thoughts."

It's important for her to write the review within a week of the second visit, she said, "if your notes get too stale you are in a bind."

With every opinion comes a backlash.

Neilson has become accustomed to nasty emails and letters from angry readers and restaurant owners. Neilson said her job is hard because her articles are so subjective. "You must be able to put your name on a review, believe in it, and know that you checked all your facts."

As a food critic it's important to go into a restaurant with no pre-conceived ideas or biases, and that is not always the easiest thing to do.

"It's hard if you go for the first time and have a terrible experience, and then try to go in a second time without a bias."

Neilson said she has been to two restaurants that in her words were truly "abominable." She said, however, if a restaurant is horrendous she doesn't go out of her way to pan the restaurant. She usually those type of restaurants go out of business on their own, she said.

The Tribune has a 140,000-member readership. Neilson said it's important to remember that restaurants are a form of livelihood and the purpose of reviewing is not to do damage.

Food critiquing has its ups and downs, she said. It's a time consuming career, and requires a tolerance for criticism. A food critic must be adventurous and willing to taste anything. The pluses are that a food critic gets paid for their palette.

In Cache Valley, food critic jobs are limited. Neither the Utah Statesman nor the Herald Journal employ restaurant reviewers. The Herald Journal said it's because Logan is such a small town.

But occasionally, Neilson and the Tribune staff make it up to Logan.

"We try to not be so Salt Lake centric," Neilson said. "We could definitely do a better job."

At the end of the day, Neilson goes home to her 2-year-old daughter with a full stomach, a head full of ideas for her next review, and money in her pocket because she get's paid to eat out.