ALL of us at ToM are tickled by the ‘spoof restaurant tricks TripAdvisor’ story doing the social media rounds. A writer set up a professional looking website, created food images of an exotic menu using bleach, paint and shaving foam and ‘The Shed’ was born. His friends sent in amazing reviews and soon for fortnight it was ranked TripAdvisor’s No.1 restaurant in London – even though it was just a shed and had never served a meal.
Proof indeed that the public review website can be manipulated in real life restaurants’ favour? On the flip side of the unfair coin are those horrifically damning verdicts and scores that leave chefs and owners gutted, apoplectic – or at best bemused.
Taste of Manchester’s own Matt White decided it would be a good idea to confront ‘victims’ of these amateur reviews and several agreed to be filmed for this visual follow-up to his acclaimed Fodder podcasts.
So far he’s gauged the reactions of some of the most high profile and self-confident operators in the North West food and drink industry – Gary Usher of Hispi in Didsbury ; Lyndon Higginson of Crazy Pedro’s; Franco Sotgiu of Solita; and Dave Mooney of The Old Sessions House, Knutsford. They’re all on YouTube and quite unmissable, already winning national press acclaim.
In the latest, available here Matt confronts Sam Buckley of Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In with voices that definitely dissent from Marina O’Loughlin’s eulogy in The Guardian – “A procession of brilliance… the most exciting food I’ve eaten in years.”
“Caught up in its own hype after a good national review,” lambasted one TripAdvisor correspondent. Others weren’t so kind. Fascinating to see the measured response of Sam, whose restaurant won Best Newcomer in the 2017 Manchester Food and Drink Awards. Judged by professional critics but also the public.
Picture of Matt and Sam by Duncan Elliott.