Dining Guide feedback
Reviews on our 2nd Annual GO! Dining Guide have been mixed.
One of the most heated criticisms was this online post:
All Vietnamese people in the US are Anti-Communist and we're here bacause of Communist. We're not happy to see Communist flag on Dining Guide. Since there is small community of Vietnamese here in this town, if not there will be a demonstration against this Dining Guide. Please find and watch "Journey from the Fall" movie to see how Communist Party treated us when they took over Vietnam.
no rating
-Anti-Communist 11/28/07 08:40:19 AM
We certainly didn't mean to promote communism. We merely ran flags from the countries that correspond to the cuisine. The communist Vietnamese flag IS the Vietnamese flag now. On the other hand, I recognize how the local Vietnamese places have strained to distance themselves from the current regime, with names like Saigon Grill, Saigon Cafe, Saigon Stars. Nobody's opening a Ho Chi Minh City Noodle Bowls anytime soon.
But what's the politically sensitive newspaper to do? Drop the flag motif entirely? Use the old South Vietnamese flag? What do you think?
OTHER CRITICISMS:
Dave Lux, founder of Concept Restaurants, found it disturbing that so many local dining institutions, including his own Jose Muldoon's, but also Oscar's on Tejon, Tony's, Dos Hombres, SouthSide Johnny's and the Stagecoach didn't make the guide.
I love the new Jose remodel, but we think the food needs more of a makeover. The others were fairly close to making the list, and each has its merits but somehow fell short.
Dave Symonds, owner of the Craftwood and the Stagecoach, took a very positive approach, glad that his Craftwood made the guide again. And he wanted to know what the Stagecoach could do to raise its game to make the list next year.
Symonds and Lux know a lot more about the restaurant business than we do, and I wouldn't presume to tell them how to improve their business models. (I think both of them have done rather brilliantly in that regard.)
Food ... this is a subjective thing. But I think most people who tried to fried chicken at Barney's would find it better (and quite a bit cheaper) than the fried chicken at the Stagecoach. And while people rave about the top-shelf margaritas and the atmosphere at Jose's, does anybody love the food?
Maybe they do. What do you think?
posted by Warren Epstein at 1:14 PM
2 Comments:
I remember moving to Miami not long after the Mariel boat lift. I was talking with a couple of Cuban friends who had escaped communist Cuba about my recent trip to the Epcot center, and how I liked the China exhibit. One replied that he would NEVER go into the China pavilion as it was a communist country. My first reaction was to laugh, but I quickly realized how passionate he was.
People who've escaped from communist regimes have a completely different take on things, and it's sometimes surprising to us, having been born into freedom. It looks as if you've found one of those instances, unintentionial as it was.
Where is Brent Beavers? email me at bob_curtis@hotmail.com
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