The Gobbler

About Chodorow’s Latest Screed …

Two weeks ago, it was Mario Batali who bared his considerable fangs and lashed out at the Gobbler in a most unseemly way. Now, this week, comes word of another anti-Gobbler screed penned by the aggrieved and suddenly blog-happy restaurateur Mr. Jeffrey Chodorow. Mr. Chodorow takes issue with the Gobbler’s not entirely unkind, one-star review of the restaurateur’s giant fish-themed restaurant, Wild Salmon. To which the Gobbler can only say, “Thank you, Mr. Chodorow!” As we said last week in this space, a critic isn’t doing his job unless fat cats like Batali and Mr. Chodorow occasionally become unhinged. Restaurateurs know their own businesses intimately, after all, and we professional critics only peddle subjective opinion. If Chodorow chooses to take issue with our opinions, he’s more than entitled to it.

For the record, however, the Gobbler would like to make a few points. Despite Mr. Chodorow’s assertion, the Gobbler is well aware that “Wild Salmon: A Pacific NW Brasserie” celebrates the food and ingredients of the Pacific Northwest. The Gobbler’s description of salmon as the “Cheerios of restaurant food” means that the fish, in his experience, is served in a largely generic way, to diners who seek a nutritional, possibly slimming meal, and little else. Mr. Chodorow seems to have a fondness for fancy sauces, but in this case, we’re on record as saying that an odd concoction called “Oregon blueberry red pepper jalapeño salsa” is actually quite edible! Finally, it’s true that the Gobbler couldn’t quite distinguish the subtle taste differences between Sockeye and Wild King Salmon. But then Gobbler is a jaded, salmon-deprived New Yorker, and none of the other jaded, salmon-deprived New Yorkers at the Gobbler’s table could tell the difference either. — Adam Platt

About Chodorow’s Latest Screed …