Critics, Reviews and all that Jazz!

Ever since we started thinking about the food at The Farm, we've been reading tons of restaraunt and food reviews and continue to do so. We wanted to understand from a food critic's point of view what good or bad food was; how were they judging food - quality, taste and presentation. Our readings are not limited to local Chennai reviews, but from all over the world. Frankly, we are disappointed, and very concerned.

We have decided not to let anyone review The Farm - the journalists at least, till we are ready. We cannot stop any of our friends or existing customers expressing their opinion about our place. I'd also like to point out that we have a very tough time holding back reporters who want to write about The Farm after having spent time there. Mind you, these were the people who rave about The Farm. It was no risk to us and can get us tons of free publicity and advertisement. But, we need to be fair and honest to ourselves, our customers and employees.

What worries us most about being reviewed is the competency of the critics and reviewers. Most of reviews we read are basically personal opinions. There is no information on the credentials of the critic/reviewer available - what really makes them an authority on food? Can a reviewer really do justice to every cuisine? Shouldn't they specialize in certain cuisines or styles? The only people whose personal opinion we care about is our customer. A reviewer should be able to objectively review a dish - the quality and authencity of the taste - not per their personal likes and dislikes. I really don't care about a critic who just loves Tandoori chicken pizza and hence thinks Pizza Hut makes the best pizza in the world.

But The Farm cannot be reviewed as a restaurant. I've mentioned this before - we are not selling food. We are selling a lifestyle; food being one part of it. Selling an experience is so cliched, as pointed out to us by our patrons (thanks Prabha and Harsha). So instead of a food critic, or a Bed & Breakfast or hotel critic maybe we need a team of reviewers with each reviewer specializing in one area. But that breaks up The Farm into small fragments which makes it very complicated and not a part of our plan.

We are still waiting for a reviewer who can objectively review a dish with the ability to say - "I don't like Biryani, but this is exactly how Biryani is made and should taste like. If you are a true Biryani afficiando, you will appreciate it". More than that we are waiting for a reviewer who will come and review the place as a whole. Till then, we'll let our customers review The Farm and decide for themselves if they want to come back. Our track record says that everybody does. We are not going to let any freeloader, chettinad pizza loving journalist mess with that. Our customers have given us enough confidence to say so. We've had instances of customers trying to convince us that our food is great, even though we we not happy with it on a particular day.

Prove to us that you have the credentials to review our place and we'll acknowledge you. Then, feel free to write your experience; good, bad or indifferent and we will welcome it.