GENTLE READERS,
As this election fracas moves on at a pace not conducive
to modern living ("like, recounting is sooo Tuesday
morning"), Miss Dish contemplates the wheels of democracy
in the food world. Right now, there's a stack of five Zagat
ballots sitting on her desk. She could make some trouble
with these things. She could disrupt the flow of the popular
vote. She could infest the process with fascist tactics.
And hey, so could you.
Of course you know what the Zagat Survey is--that maroon-covered
book that rates restaurants in cities across the country.
Many eating emporia gloat about their ratings. The difference
between that guide and, say, Willamette Week's
annual restaurant guide, is that Zagat polls regular
people, not crusty restaurant critics. Hey, power to the
people and all that, but there's one little bitty problem:
This thing has more possibilities for corruption than a
butterfly ballot. Miss Dish, as noted earlier, received
five ballots herself. One can also request ballots online
at zagats.com. So, if someone out there were inclined to
sway a decision (and gee, there's no one like that in the
desperate world of restaurant management), it wouldn't be
that hard to get a bunch of ballots by using friends' email
addresses.
To Zagat's credit, most of its lists are mostly on the
mark, mainly because they hire worthy people to edit and
oversee each city. The Portland crew for 2001-02 is Angela
Allen and Kathryn Kurtz, two women who cover food for the
Vancouver, Wash., Columbian.
"I'm looking at every return," Allen told Miss Dish. "I'm
familiar with the names of many of the people who send them
in." But even she admits that with over 12,000 ballots sent
out, there is no way to call each person and confirm who
they are.
And strange discrepancies appeared in this year's survey.
For example, even though The People voted Brasserie Montmarte
in as the 36th most popular restaurant in the city, the
restaurant's listing contains more negative quotes than
not and describes the place as having "inconsistent," "OK"
food. This seemed to be the place where editorial spin kicked
in, and as far as this critic is concerned, it was correct.
So whither criticism for the people, by the people? Let's
just say Miss Dish isn't worrying about job security just
yet. When you take a microscope to the electoral ant farm,
be it presidential politics or restaurant one-upmanship,
you uncover some strange scurryings.
Still, if you want to make your vote count, get a questionnaire
(or two) by emailing portlandzagatsurvey@hotmail.com or
sending an SASE to PMB #510, 17675 SW Farmington Road, Aloha,
OR 97007.
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