It’s so extreme to say people who comment on restaurants must have worked in the industry! As if they have the time! I am not a huge fan of the inane ‘come with me you guys’ content but surely we are perfectly capable of scrolling past it. I would love not to read absurd inaccuracies about my job in the media by people with absolutely no knowledge about how journalism works - but I try my best to move on!
I too get those "come with me to find the best pastries..." kinds of content in my feed and have fallen for them because I want to eat the pastries so badly! But then it seems like all the influencers follow each other and name the same places. They take a bite and roll their eyes back. It's almost a parody! I guess it's harmless if they have disclosed that they got a free meal, but so few do. Still, I don't want anyone confusing my work with theirs.
Thank you for sharing my satirical story about this! I’ve always found the idea that there’s only one way to write about food or that only one specific background is relevant to be absurd. There are many ways to relate an idea to a reader.
Most influencers reviewing restaurants are like anyone else I ignore. Some influencers are fantastic. But really… Opinions. How many more do I need?
My bigger challenge is the chefs who are constantly posting about cooking influencers doing awful things to food on video. I know of one chef who says he can’t stand the negativity on social in one post—and then in the next post unleashes an excoriation of some cooking influencer’s video of himself doing unspeakable things to a brisket.
I do not consider myself an influencer. I write about Pizza. A lot. I try to always be positive. If I’m commenting about negativity, it’s to try and put a good spin on something that’s being disrespected or dismissed. (See also: anchovies.)
There’s too much venom in social media. I don’t need to be spitting in the soup, too. Eventually you just end up with spit soup. Ick.
Sorry for the lack of a TL;DR. I’m over-caffeinated.
Good question. There’s so much pizza hate (styles, toppings, processes, char, etc.). I don’t want to contribute to it. I still make judgments. But I try to be constructive. At the end of the day my job is to win friends and influence people. My brand is Free The Pizza. My books are for people daunted by the process. Pizza joy over pizza pissing matches wins. I hope. 😁
Yesterday I was listening to the radio in the car. The show was about using sunscreen. Apparently there are influencers who say not to use it because it could "impede the absorption of vitamin D." Which turns out to not be true. But then the interviewee said that hardly anyone in the US wears sunscreen anyway. Shocking! LOL.
Swear to god: About two hours before I read your piece, I was heading out the door and googled, "Does sunscreen impede vitamin D absorption?" This kind of thing has been happening all day. Glad to have you in my cosmic flux of the day. (And no: I didn't put on sunscreen.)
I love this post and I have so many thoughts because I'm on the non-chef sides of the table on this. They see me as a micro influencer.. with a keyboard.
Chefs and restaurants know when I'm coming in (because they have to work around my food allergies). They also know that I'm there because I was tasked to do so (it is usually an assignment). So, I am doing them a favor by even showing up. I don't post about restaurants on Social media that I'm not otherwise covering in an article, because my words and time have value. If there was one something nice about that place, I may talk about it on social in a different way but keep it simple.
I've had one very famous, award winning, media darling chef actually ridicule my food allergies to my face. I was so upset, that did a TEDx about it then. Now anyone who looks me up, knows that I mean business. Did that chef respond? No... I'm too small for him. It was a comped meal, and I never posted about the dining experience. Their loss, however small it is.
*
I have a deep respect for my audience - which includes cookbook readers who at some point start following me on social. I never ever want to misguide them. I've built my following person at a time, and between cookbooks and freelance writing, and a tiny platform I'm not the average reviewer. The restaurant and even restaurant PR know that I may only be a micro-influencer - but one with a keyboard and voice that goes beyond a social media.
So many influencers with a very large platform merely post content in exchange for a free meal (or sometimes even for $$). However, you've got to understand the food before you can celebrate it or critique it. IMO, some familiarity with the cuisine that extends beyond cooking for yourself is necessary.
I recently dined at a restaurant to research an article. One sip of an n/a drink and I was aghast and angry at the cheap tricks (that drink came out of a shelf-stable packet that sells for $3 and can serve 20+), but was ticketed at $15+ I had the confidence and knowledge to walk over and point out that this was unacceptable because anyone intimately familiar with the cuisine would know right away. They apologized.
And then I saw an influencer (who knows the cuisine very well, btw) promote the same restaurant and sip the same drink on their feed, and suggest that it was amazing. I was shocked - but not surprised... that influencer gets invited everywhere for their reels.
WRT the debate on comped meals: there isn’t an outlet in the US that pays enough for a writer to write one article and still be able to make a living of any kind. The writer has a few different choices: comped meal and tip the wait staff, an un-comped meal and stay in the red (because you cant pay for a meal + tips + car mileage + parking and have any money leftover for dry cleaning a formal outfit), or not write at all.
I've paid $300 for a single meal, when an editor assigned an article only to have them cancel the assignment right after I dined. I refuse to work with that editor again.
I've spent $300 for a meal I wanted to eat and never talked about it anywhere because it was so bad.
I've spent $200+ to eat at small family owned restaurants for a listicle that only paid $150 for the article and none of them cared enough to feel good about it / share it on their own socials. Not to mention the stomach issues I come home with. The leftovers are not worth it at all!!
Tell me how any of social-media focussed food coverage (writing or content) makes any sense at all. The sooner a consumer understands, the better it would be for their own health and pocketbook.
Thank you for this inside look at your job as a micro influencer, Nandita. I think you would enjoy listening to the Vittles podcast I linked to in the newsletter.
The numbers you shared are why food writing -- and food influencing -- are part-time jobs or hobbies for most. And it's also why some people don't take us seriously, because of that.
Do you make yourself known to the chefs? (What you said about the drink?)
If the restaurant has a PR connection, I go through them, so that I don't have to introduce myself when I get there. Introductions in the restaurant without prior communications make for awkward / unrealistic expectations. Owners / chefs don't take you seriously and assume you are angling for free food - without realizing that the writer cant realistically pay for it themselves. If they don't know beforehand, then chefs / owners don't get a chance to see that I come with my own credentials, separate from the article / restaurant review / social media aspect.
The funny thing is, that despite going through the PR, and making my credentials known, the bev program manager proceeded to confidently serve me that drink. He was actually surprised I called him out.
I'll save the podcast for my next car ride, I cant wait to hear!
Interesting to me to read about how it works. Thank you. You will hear in the podcast that PR people are the drivers of influencers, something else I didn't realize that is probably obvious to you!
Yes, PR reaches out to influencers LONG before media gets invited at opening, or before it hits a media members inbox, if at all.
Restaurant openings are announced first to editors in business chronicles and food pubs - sometimes even as embargoed stories depending on the outlet - frequently a year before the restaurant opens. In the months prior to the opening they reach out to influencers, offering BTS events, visuals and even throwing influencer only preview events that are NOT open to the public. Some PR will also include ride-share partnerships so the influencer can partake in the libations without worry. These are often dubbed as 'soft openings'. Or media previews.
The inbox of a journalist is at the bottom of the pecking order, if the journalist is lucky, and only if they have heavy bylines to their names.
Really loved this piece, and it got my wheels turning. I’m even thinking about extending the idea into a future article focused on influencers, recipe developers, and content creators...and the different ways people are trying to distinguish themselves in the industry. So much to think about here!
I was also delighted to see you linked to my recent article, “Who Gets to Be a Food Media Darling?” Thank you so much. I’m truly honored!
I remember decades ago when influencers were invited to soft openings, given free meals, only to give poor reviews before the restaurant even opened to the public.
Fabulous monthly newsletter, Dianne. I appreciate your perspective on this topic. Personally, I became burnt out on restaurant influencers, and for the most part I have cleared them from my feeds. I tend to trust the industry for recommendations of where to try next, as I feel it may be a little more legitimately celebratory of a worthy spot. However, I know they can be worthwhile for a business, and I had to strategically build relationships with local influencers and use them when I owned and operated my bakery in Spokane, WA.
A huge thank you for including both my Substack and Atlas Obscura articles in your newsletter this month. Also, it was great to meet you in person at Omnivore Books last week!
Thank you Ricky. I guess influencers are just part of the fabric of owning a restaurant or bakery now. It's been a learning curve for me to understand it all!
You are welcome. It's rewarding to meet someone in person instead of just online.
This made me think about the history of restaurant reviewing here in Quebec, where so many prominent critics were women. I would genuinely love to pull the archives and see what people said when they first broke into the industry. Were they also dismissed as unqualified because they had not attended culinary school or worked in restaurant kitchens?
It feels like every new generation of food writers/food media gets accused of lacking legitimacy by the people who were previously allowed to define what counted. I don't think that place influencers beyond criticism, especially when advertising goes undisclosed, but it does make me curious about how much of this conversation is really about ethics and how much is *actually* about who gets to have influence.
It’s so extreme to say people who comment on restaurants must have worked in the industry! As if they have the time! I am not a huge fan of the inane ‘come with me you guys’ content but surely we are perfectly capable of scrolling past it. I would love not to read absurd inaccuracies about my job in the media by people with absolutely no knowledge about how journalism works - but I try my best to move on!
I too get those "come with me to find the best pastries..." kinds of content in my feed and have fallen for them because I want to eat the pastries so badly! But then it seems like all the influencers follow each other and name the same places. They take a bite and roll their eyes back. It's almost a parody! I guess it's harmless if they have disclosed that they got a free meal, but so few do. Still, I don't want anyone confusing my work with theirs.
This is such a great topic, they even made a movie based on it: Chef.
I watched that! I think there is a part in their where they use social media to build a following for their food truck.
Part of the story is the main character chef building a relationship with his son. It was his son who started the social media following.
Great movie!
Thank you for sharing my satirical story about this! I’ve always found the idea that there’s only one way to write about food or that only one specific background is relevant to be absurd. There are many ways to relate an idea to a reader.
Indeed there are. Thanks for being a newsletter reader, Nicholas.
Strap in!
Most influencers reviewing restaurants are like anyone else I ignore. Some influencers are fantastic. But really… Opinions. How many more do I need?
My bigger challenge is the chefs who are constantly posting about cooking influencers doing awful things to food on video. I know of one chef who says he can’t stand the negativity on social in one post—and then in the next post unleashes an excoriation of some cooking influencer’s video of himself doing unspeakable things to a brisket.
I do not consider myself an influencer. I write about Pizza. A lot. I try to always be positive. If I’m commenting about negativity, it’s to try and put a good spin on something that’s being disrespected or dismissed. (See also: anchovies.)
There’s too much venom in social media. I don’t need to be spitting in the soup, too. Eventually you just end up with spit soup. Ick.
Sorry for the lack of a TL;DR. I’m over-caffeinated.
There are so many opinions out there -- true! I feel fatigued. I just learned yesterday that there are anti-sunscreen influencers. Who knew?
When you say you write about pizza, why are you always trying to be positive? I'm curious.
Good question. There’s so much pizza hate (styles, toppings, processes, char, etc.). I don’t want to contribute to it. I still make judgments. But I try to be constructive. At the end of the day my job is to win friends and influence people. My brand is Free The Pizza. My books are for people daunted by the process. Pizza joy over pizza pissing matches wins. I hope. 😁
That sounds pretty reasonable, if you don't consider yourself a critic.
I can be critical. But I'd rather not be a critic. If I go there, I try to be productive and play for laughs. Sometimes I'm funny. Despite the photo.
BTW, how did you find anti-sunscreen influencers? That’s nuts. But not unexpected, somehow.
Yesterday I was listening to the radio in the car. The show was about using sunscreen. Apparently there are influencers who say not to use it because it could "impede the absorption of vitamin D." Which turns out to not be true. But then the interviewee said that hardly anyone in the US wears sunscreen anyway. Shocking! LOL.
Swear to god: About two hours before I read your piece, I was heading out the door and googled, "Does sunscreen impede vitamin D absorption?" This kind of thing has been happening all day. Glad to have you in my cosmic flux of the day. (And no: I didn't put on sunscreen.)
I love this post and I have so many thoughts because I'm on the non-chef sides of the table on this. They see me as a micro influencer.. with a keyboard.
Chefs and restaurants know when I'm coming in (because they have to work around my food allergies). They also know that I'm there because I was tasked to do so (it is usually an assignment). So, I am doing them a favor by even showing up. I don't post about restaurants on Social media that I'm not otherwise covering in an article, because my words and time have value. If there was one something nice about that place, I may talk about it on social in a different way but keep it simple.
I've had one very famous, award winning, media darling chef actually ridicule my food allergies to my face. I was so upset, that did a TEDx about it then. Now anyone who looks me up, knows that I mean business. Did that chef respond? No... I'm too small for him. It was a comped meal, and I never posted about the dining experience. Their loss, however small it is.
*
I have a deep respect for my audience - which includes cookbook readers who at some point start following me on social. I never ever want to misguide them. I've built my following person at a time, and between cookbooks and freelance writing, and a tiny platform I'm not the average reviewer. The restaurant and even restaurant PR know that I may only be a micro-influencer - but one with a keyboard and voice that goes beyond a social media.
So many influencers with a very large platform merely post content in exchange for a free meal (or sometimes even for $$). However, you've got to understand the food before you can celebrate it or critique it. IMO, some familiarity with the cuisine that extends beyond cooking for yourself is necessary.
I recently dined at a restaurant to research an article. One sip of an n/a drink and I was aghast and angry at the cheap tricks (that drink came out of a shelf-stable packet that sells for $3 and can serve 20+), but was ticketed at $15+ I had the confidence and knowledge to walk over and point out that this was unacceptable because anyone intimately familiar with the cuisine would know right away. They apologized.
And then I saw an influencer (who knows the cuisine very well, btw) promote the same restaurant and sip the same drink on their feed, and suggest that it was amazing. I was shocked - but not surprised... that influencer gets invited everywhere for their reels.
WRT the debate on comped meals: there isn’t an outlet in the US that pays enough for a writer to write one article and still be able to make a living of any kind. The writer has a few different choices: comped meal and tip the wait staff, an un-comped meal and stay in the red (because you cant pay for a meal + tips + car mileage + parking and have any money leftover for dry cleaning a formal outfit), or not write at all.
I've paid $300 for a single meal, when an editor assigned an article only to have them cancel the assignment right after I dined. I refuse to work with that editor again.
I've spent $300 for a meal I wanted to eat and never talked about it anywhere because it was so bad.
I've spent $200+ to eat at small family owned restaurants for a listicle that only paid $150 for the article and none of them cared enough to feel good about it / share it on their own socials. Not to mention the stomach issues I come home with. The leftovers are not worth it at all!!
Tell me how any of social-media focussed food coverage (writing or content) makes any sense at all. The sooner a consumer understands, the better it would be for their own health and pocketbook.
<3
Thank you for this inside look at your job as a micro influencer, Nandita. I think you would enjoy listening to the Vittles podcast I linked to in the newsletter.
The numbers you shared are why food writing -- and food influencing -- are part-time jobs or hobbies for most. And it's also why some people don't take us seriously, because of that.
Do you make yourself known to the chefs? (What you said about the drink?)
If the restaurant has a PR connection, I go through them, so that I don't have to introduce myself when I get there. Introductions in the restaurant without prior communications make for awkward / unrealistic expectations. Owners / chefs don't take you seriously and assume you are angling for free food - without realizing that the writer cant realistically pay for it themselves. If they don't know beforehand, then chefs / owners don't get a chance to see that I come with my own credentials, separate from the article / restaurant review / social media aspect.
The funny thing is, that despite going through the PR, and making my credentials known, the bev program manager proceeded to confidently serve me that drink. He was actually surprised I called him out.
I'll save the podcast for my next car ride, I cant wait to hear!
Interesting to me to read about how it works. Thank you. You will hear in the podcast that PR people are the drivers of influencers, something else I didn't realize that is probably obvious to you!
Yes, PR reaches out to influencers LONG before media gets invited at opening, or before it hits a media members inbox, if at all.
Restaurant openings are announced first to editors in business chronicles and food pubs - sometimes even as embargoed stories depending on the outlet - frequently a year before the restaurant opens. In the months prior to the opening they reach out to influencers, offering BTS events, visuals and even throwing influencer only preview events that are NOT open to the public. Some PR will also include ride-share partnerships so the influencer can partake in the libations without worry. These are often dubbed as 'soft openings'. Or media previews.
The inbox of a journalist is at the bottom of the pecking order, if the journalist is lucky, and only if they have heavy bylines to their names.
Very educational! Thank you Nandita.
Just finished your book and loved it. I made so many highlights to refer back to. Going to get started on my book proposal this fall.
Oh well, this is lovely to read, Erin. LMK if you need some help on your proposal. Or maybe you should take my upcoming class: https://civickitchensf.com/classes/id/1625/jumpstart-your-cookbook-proposal
I just might! Thank you!
Delish delish 🙌
Really loved this piece, and it got my wheels turning. I’m even thinking about extending the idea into a future article focused on influencers, recipe developers, and content creators...and the different ways people are trying to distinguish themselves in the industry. So much to think about here!
I was also delighted to see you linked to my recent article, “Who Gets to Be a Food Media Darling?” Thank you so much. I’m truly honored!
I remember decades ago when influencers were invited to soft openings, given free meals, only to give poor reviews before the restaurant even opened to the public.
Congrats on Condé Nast, Dianne!
I'm sure that's still happening! Hence the ire.
Thank you. It was a lovely surprise.
Fabulous monthly newsletter, Dianne. I appreciate your perspective on this topic. Personally, I became burnt out on restaurant influencers, and for the most part I have cleared them from my feeds. I tend to trust the industry for recommendations of where to try next, as I feel it may be a little more legitimately celebratory of a worthy spot. However, I know they can be worthwhile for a business, and I had to strategically build relationships with local influencers and use them when I owned and operated my bakery in Spokane, WA.
A huge thank you for including both my Substack and Atlas Obscura articles in your newsletter this month. Also, it was great to meet you in person at Omnivore Books last week!
Thank you Ricky. I guess influencers are just part of the fabric of owning a restaurant or bakery now. It's been a learning curve for me to understand it all!
You are welcome. It's rewarding to meet someone in person instead of just online.
This made me think about the history of restaurant reviewing here in Quebec, where so many prominent critics were women. I would genuinely love to pull the archives and see what people said when they first broke into the industry. Were they also dismissed as unqualified because they had not attended culinary school or worked in restaurant kitchens?
It feels like every new generation of food writers/food media gets accused of lacking legitimacy by the people who were previously allowed to define what counted. I don't think that place influencers beyond criticism, especially when advertising goes undisclosed, but it does make me curious about how much of this conversation is really about ethics and how much is *actually* about who gets to have influence.
Exactly. Thinly veiled too.