http://www.texaswineandfood.org/ Foodquest: April 7, 2006 Foodies: Slowdog, Ping Photography: Slowdog Narration: Slowdog

What happens when you invite sixty of the top restaurants in Texas to showcase their food at a single event?  Foodquest goes undercover to bring you the scoop.  With food critics around the state in presence, you can be sure that restaurants bring only their very best. 

One of the challenges with traditional restaurant reviews is the possibility of the reviewer being recognized by the restaurant staff.  How well does the restaurant critic know the restauranteur and as a result, how much does that skew the meals they are given to review?  An unfortunate result is that often, what we order differs night and day from the food reviewed by the critic.  Foodquest attempts to minimize the problem as much as possible by using the 'secret shopper' approach in which the food we order should theoritically be what everyone gets.  The photos are taken in secret during the meals so that our readers can see exactly the food being talked about.   

In this spirit, Foodquest elected to go undercover at the Stars Across Texas event and and observe the interactions between the critics and restauranteurs in an attempt to further investigate the issue.  At the same time, we savor some of the delightful offerings on tap from the various restaurants. 

Before we get to the food, it is interesting to note some of the observations.  Without naming names, many restaurant critics from  major publications across Texas are present at the event.  Often, the restaurant critics are not only recognized by the restauranteur, but are also quite familiar with the other.  Many have friendships that go back years.  The critics and restauranteurs can be observed sharing industry gossip and news with one another.  It does indeed give one pause to observe the close kinship between the two sides, though on some levels, it can be argued that it is also inevitable.  Anyone after enough years and readers will be recognized and known.  The question is how best to deal with the issue and still provide readers with an accurate assessment of the food.  

And now to the food...

 Click below to continue to Aquarelle, The Cafe at The Four Seasons, Cafe Josie and more -