Jeffrey Crazypants Chodorow quietly posted to his blog last week, and what a post it was. He takes on Adam Platt, of course, who'd just had his way with Wild Salmon. The Jeffinator reads the Platt review, presents self with two options. Option A: Maybe Platt has a point or two, maybe Wild Salmon could do better. Option B: Adam Platt is insane. Looks like he picked option B:
Putting aside the fact that he missed the entire point of the restaurant--a place that celebrates one of the great "undiscovered" food and wine regions of the United States and which also happens to be the first authentic Pacific N.W. restaurant outside of the Pacific Northwest, with virtually every product flown in fresh from that region. Adam Platt cannot even distinguish the difference in taste between two remarkably different tasting fish, Sockeye salmon and Wild King salmon. In fact, he even goes so far as to quote an apparent expert on the subject (a friend with a fish-affinity) calling salmon "the Cheerios of restaurant food." What does that even mean? Worse yet, he doesn't even mention the unique wine list featuring wines from that region, many of which have never been offered here before, or the incredible microbrews (from one of the great artisanal microbrew areas of the country). Eater.com is right on this one (though not usually), he is incapable of giving me a good review.We just left in that last sentence, because we like to share our joy in having gotten a backhanded compliment from the J-Dog, who went shill crazy just in case any potential customers read the blog.
And there's more. The Chodorow de Cuba also has a query for you:
I wanted to comment on and hopefully open a discussion on the subject of sauce. I was always told that having options never hurt you. Platt complains about too many (and too esoteric) sauces, but how can you criticize the mere existence of free sauce served on the side? You are not being forced to use it!!! At Wild Salmon, you can have your fish prepared in a variety of styles (cedar-planked, grilled, broiled, even "en-papillote"), all available with sauce on the side (and these are very popular sauces in Seattle). Even Alan Richman, the reviewer for Bloomberg, in what Grubstreet described as a favorable review of Wild Salmon, especially considering his recent drubbing of Danny Meyer's spectacular Gramercy Tavern, complained about the sauces, which he felt the restaurant would be better without. Am I wrong in making an attempt to offer my customers a variety of options? I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject...Bruni, Platt and Richman: he's not interested in your comments, however.
· Wild Salmon [chod-o-blog]
Bonus: Announcing Chasing Chodorow, a meta-meta title just launched—and the only blog that the Chod-o-Blog stands a chance of out-lasting.
Bonus Bonus: Confidential to Mr. Chodorow: We've decided to sell chodoblog.com. Make us a offer if you're interested.
