Isn't this the same guy who left all the other places after like 2 months?

Chef Joshua must have Restless Leg Syndrome.

Apparently, he left earlier this week for "health" reasons.

Lord knows I've laid the snark on Mr. Gorelick in the past (although to be fair he seems to have calmed down his prose since leaving City Paper). But I mean this as a serious question.

If a reviewer is recognized at a place, and knows he's been spotted, why wouldn't he just write off the idea of reviewing it?

It seems like it should invalidate the review when that happens, since it's clear that what's happening isn't going to represent what an average customer's can expect, for good or ill.

Mr. Gorelick in the past (although to be fair he seems to have calmed down his prose since leaving City Paper)

Maybe the Sunshine Kid is taking Prose-ac now.

■|:o)

I was going to try to write something about Chef Joshau but Dahlink gets the gold medal on this one – RLS, brilliant.

Jon, Frank Bruni is recognized everywhere he goes, and he doesn't care. Some reviewers feel the food is good, or it isn't, and being recognized doesn't have anything to do with that.

It can affect the service, though, as Ruth Reichl showed with her review of Cirque.

If a restaurant knows that a reviewer is eating there may be some small things they would do above the norm to ensure a good meal, but there are limits. It is not as if the reviewer is going to order the salisbury steak only to find that foie gras and lobster is what comes out of the kitchen.

no matter if you put lipstick on a pig it is still a Pig.

I dunno, RoCK. Wouldn't foie stuffed Salisbury steak with a lobster sauce be interesting?

famous for leaving restaurants? I thought that was Cyrus Keefer.

Has anyone tried contacting Chef Hill?

I don't have his contact information. I have only gotten in touch with him through his restaurants or when he leaves me his number. EL

Has anyone tried contacting Chef Hill?

He's selling churros from a cart outside my office. Wait a minute, he just took over an ice cream truck. Mmm, I could go for a Nutty Buddy. Hold on, he just commandeered a taco truck and is serving Mexitalian food on a stick.

Obviously, what we really need in Baltimore is a restaurant where they bring in a new chef every month.

Chefs jump around.
get the facts before you go around bashing these professionals. Do you honestly think they would work those long hours and want to keep searching for a new place to work? sounds like a bunch of comments from a bunch of diners who have never ever worked in a kitchen. Take care of yourself Chef!

Jon raises a very legitimate question.

I feel that by disclosing in the review the fact that I was recognized, it allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. The reader might, for instance, conclude that in going out of my way not to show bias in favor of a restaurant, I may have leaned too far in the other direction. I trust the reader.

I agree in essence with the comments above regarding how a restaurant might be able to adjust small things but not its essential nature. Too, I believe (I guess I have to) that I am skilled about detecting when preferential treatment or service is being offered. It was not at Alizee.

I am Spartacus!

I am Spartacus!

I am Spartacus!

I am Spartacus!

Announcing Project Spartacus. Everyone shoud carry a notepad with them to a restaurant and steathfully jot down things while poorly concealing your behavior. Also take pictures of only the food in the same manner. See what happens. Plus we provide cover for our reviewer friends.

What I said above is my personal take on the matter.

I'm not a restaraunt reviewer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I will have plenty to say. All depends on how this afternoon goes. You will be the first with the scoop EL.

Chef Joshau Hill

RayRay, don't let me catch you staying in a Holiday Hotel.

Don't tease us, Chef Joshau!

Group of 11 had 8pm reservations this past Saturday night. When we arrived there was NO ONE seated in the dining room. I'm not exaggerating - NO ONE at 8pm on a Saturday night! Our meal and service were good, not poor and not great. Out of concern for freshness of ingredients in a restaurant with no business, I do not think I would return. Its a shame...PS: By the time we left, they'd served another couple dinner and there were four folks lounging on the sofas set up in the middle of the dining room. Maybe if a lot of people hurry up and go, they'll survive.

"Chefs jump around.
get the facts before you go around bashing these professionals. Do you honestly think they would work those long hours and want to keep searching for a new place to work? sounds like a bunch of comments from a bunch of diners who have never ever worked in a kitchen. Take care of yourself Chef!"

pul-lease!

I HAVE worked with Chef Hill and HAVE been in the field for longer than he has...I have never seen a negative comment about the man that wasn't on the mark. He created his own legacy...and still going strong.
IMHO, what keeps him jumping is his over-inflated ego and tall tails that catch him in the B-hind...

but, trust me...what u see is what u get!

Really quite sad, if you think about it...and not fair at all to the numerous restaurant owners that are left to clean up his mess.

Maybe YOU should get YOUR facts straight, chclifton.

What does this EVEN mean? chclifton posted that remark in MAY. It took you over a month to comment on on it, LambChop? I'm not even sure what you're trying to say!

Joyce, I think it means that the Middle Schoolers have found us.

I recently dined at Alizee with my husband. There was one other diner in the restaurant and a few folks lounging on the sofas. I was not impressed with the service. It took a long time for anyone to even greet us at our table. Some have mentioned personal attention-we were basically ignored. In fact, we order our drinks and dinner at the same time because it took so long. I was looking forward to roasted chicken B.L.T that I read about in a review, but they were "out" of the ingredients. I did have a lovely lobster banana fushi dish. My husband had tuna and said it was "ok". The food was delivered quickly (but then again, we were the only ones there). The atmosphere was nice. I hope the restaurant addresses the changes needed to make it a success.

"What does this EVEN mean? chclifton posted that remark in MAY. It took you over a month to comment on on it, LambChop? I'm not even sure what you're trying to say!"

what "this means", Joyce, is that i don't live on the boards...i have a life. just as i have only seen ur response now..weeks later. and as to what "it" means, I can WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with the pundits...Chef Hill is a bag of hot air...move over, let the REAL Chefs work...he's looking for notoriety...he's a walking reality show. He talks big game, spends owners money and bails out blaming everyone else on the way.

He leaves a black scorch on everything he touches.

and it doesn't take a middle-schooler to figure out his game, Evie.

now...back to the realworld.

!!!!

I have a feeling that Anonymous is going to wake sometime around noon today with a really bad hangover.

What's the on-line equivalent of drunk dialing? To paraphrase Potter Stewart, I don't know its name, but I know it when I see it.

Give him a BUI