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James and the Philly Mag Top 50
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
James and the Philly Mag Top 50
Filed Under: Food News
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| jameson8th.com |
I would just be happy if they would publish the list in a regular web article, or at least make the slideshow work...
ok.. i'll bite on your comment trolling :) The problem is not with a list, the problem is that if you do a list like philly mag does it--of the 50 best restaurants in philly each year--forty or so of them are going to be about the same..and it's pretty tough to make that interesting. So I definitely think that the problem isn't with a list, it's with this list. Philly Mag needs readers, obviously, and issues with food on the cover sell better than anything else, so that's great, but it's obviously and transparently unserious to have Blackfish #1 and Oyster House and Bistrot in the top-10. And that's a disservice to readers, but worse it does a huge disservice to chefs and restaurateurs who are operating at pretty thin margins. Similarly, I realize that Vetri has its detractors (although I'm not sure why), but no one actually would rank it one spot below Blackfish, right? Like if you hate Vetri, it wouldn't even be on your top-50 because it's too expensive, but if you love Vetri, then nothing else in Philly is really close--it's a whole other level of food, price, experience, whatever. In other words, no one actually thinks Vetri is a slightly worse restaurant to eat at than Blackfish...it's either not worth it at all, or it's WAY WAY better. Finally, I'd just like to note that framing the list as "the 50 best places to eat at right now" is a huge cop-out. And Fond should be higher.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Nova Ren Suma, Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket said: From @laurelro: What does @jamesphilly's unexpected exclusion from @PhillyMag's 50 Best Restaurants say about the list? http://ow.ly/3CBOE [...]
Lists never have a happy ending (see Schindlers, McCarthy, Billboard Top 20.)
I'm a bit torn when it comes to these listy things. On one hand, they encourage a lot of debate and opinion-sharing, which I think is a great thing for the food scene. On the other, I find it difficult to grasp the idea that somewhere like a quaint suburban BYOB can ostensibly be held to the same operational standards as a bustling Center City restaurant, and that one can definitively be ranked better than the other.
The problem is not with this or any list...the problem is how much power people (read:chefs/restaurateurs as well as the dining public) give them. It is true that in real life a restaurant's business can be damaged as well as enhanced by in/exclusion, good/bad placement on any particular list. But it is incredibly disingenuous for any incessantly blogging, tweeting, publicity whoring chef/restaurateur to complain about the effect of this kind of publicity on their business!!! There was a time when chefs were found in the kitchen, COOKING! Restaurateurs were found in the dining room looking after their guests and qualified reviewers had their say. An unfavorable review was met with determination to do a better job and ranting and raving was done in private because to do otherwise, was UNPROFESSIONAL! The folks from James are clearly pouting and whining. However I give them credit for making a marketing op out of this situation. Good business move! James is a fine restaurant, with a loyal clientele. I find it hard to believe their business will suffer even a little bit as a result of being left off this year's list. As for future business, a good restaurant will work even harder to "earn" the business of those that are not already among their customers. As for the Vetri example, I believe Marc himself, would disagree with you. Read his comments on his recent dinner at Le Bec Fin. And keep in mind that Vetri has been doing its' thing for quite some time now, and while I personally favor Vetri's more classic style, Blackfish is certainly more "of the moment", the capturing of which was the mission of the Philly Mag list. It is not a cop-out at all to title the list "The 50 Best Places to Eat Right Now"! After all, right now is all that really matters to generation: tweetblogfacebooksocialnetwoking!! You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
THIS!
[...] dinner Saturday night at the positively packed James (824 S. Eighth St.), where being excluded from Philly Mag’s Top 50 seems to have been a blessing in disguise. (Dude next to me at the bar redeemed his issue for a [...]
[...] James responds to its exclusion from Philly Mag’s Top 50 restaurants list with a little creati... [...]
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