🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ANDERSON.93Feb18083256@sapir.cog.jhu.edu> anderson@sapir.cog.jhu.edu (Stephen Anderson) writes:
>Has anyone else here eaten at Yannick Cam's (relatively) new place at
>the Radisson Plaza in Alexandria? And if so, what did you think of it?
>
>After an initial mention when it first opened, Phyllis Richman has
>completely ignored Yannick's: it doesn't even appear on her most
>recent list of good restaurants in the area. And in the most recent
>Washingtonian list of 100, the review of Yannick's is extremely
>grudging in giving it two stars, .....
.....
>I'm just puzzled that Yannick's hasn't gotten more attention than it
>has: it seems to me arguably the best restaurant in the area (though
>admittedly not located very conveniently). Anyone else have an opinion
>or a theory?

   [Since I've never tried Yannick's, I cannot make a specific comment.
Instead, I'd like to mention something more general.]

   Probably, it depends on the definition of "attention."

   If a certain place has a certain number of customers sufficient for the
business to maintain its integrity, the level of "attention" might be
high enough. "Attention" by mass media and "attention" by actual customers
may not be always correlated quantitatively or qualitatively.

   My wife and I used to try places listed in Washingtonian, but more than
a couple of times, we ended up being disappointed or dissatisfied. 
Although the top 50 or 100 list of good restaurants in Washingtonian might
be a good place to start for a newcomer in this area, I am under the
impression that the list is not something that we could place such a 
large significance or credibility.

   Everyone has his/her own taste for food/atmosphere/service/price/etc.
I'd assume that the places in the list are picked up only by the writers'
taste (or maybe some buddy-buddy relationship with the owner?). In addition,
there should be many good places where the writers have never tried.

   Wouldn't it be possible that the very reason why this group exists is 
that quite a few netters are not satisfied with the information from the
mass media but try to exchange more unbiased, frank opinions based on
their own experiences?

   In this sense, your posting on Yannick's attracted more of my attention 
than the article in Washingtonian 8-).

--Michiaki