Eric, the owner of Brandt came to Old Town during my employee trainings and he and I hit it off so well that he offered me a job that would lead to me ejecting from Old Town and the trenches in general. I was looking to transform into a sales role and Eric wanted me to learn the beef business from the “ass up” as I remember us saying. That meant me moving to East Los Angeles to work in the Manning slaughter-house in an assistant production role. I thought I knew something about beef at that point but this was an education in transparency. We operated in full disclosure in how our animals were handled and harvested. This is the topic I want to harp on today: transparency and full disclosure.
We live in a world, in a town, where more often then not it seems that writers and PR machines are possessed to write positive editorial and reviews for a free meal. Often ‘under-qualified’, relentlessly ‘over-exaggerated’ and positively ‘bought’ reviews make their way into written and digital media every day here in San Diego. Magazine publishers are self-proclaimed foodies and wear straw hats like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. I remember as a kid and as a young adult working in the New York City elite of restaurants always living in fear of Frank Bruni walking in the door. We used to have a picture of him hanging in our coat-rooms so that the first line of defense might recognize him coming in for lunch and put everyone on alert. He was often feared more then the Health Inspector walking into your establishment on a Monday afternoon. He was objective, clear and concise and certainly could make or break the restaurant he reviewed because readership was so huge and restaurant savvy.
There is a disconnect between reviewers and the masses that spend their own hard earned cash supporting local business and venues. Ill advised “heat indexes” and horrifying shows on the Food-Network driving business to places that anyone in industry knows are a sham, seep more and more into our local culture and infrastructure. I often write from the heart and have no problem calling a spade a spade. It is a gift and just a no-nonsense way of life I have always lived and believed in.
As I sit at Tidal Restaurant at Paradise Point writing my own Blog, and review I think about Amy DiBiase’s food and menu are a gem. Her Natural Ribeye steak is one of the best in town. I think of artists like Davin Waite and his rockstar wife Jessica up at The Wrench and Rodent and Whet Noodle. Their food and service is like the first time I rode the Magic Mountain rollercoaster. Your pulling 3G’s in the dark through twists and turns and every plate brings you back to the light with his presentations. I look forward to writing more about food in the coming months. I certainly have the credentials, and with then never-ending march of restaurant opening there is no shortage of material. Demand transparency and full disclosure in your lives when you are deciding your next Feed-Lot to hit. It makes the other BS easier to tolerate.
