Sometimes I give restaurants a second chance
The former executive chef of The Maine Group, Saradhi Dakara's new restaurant Orilla reviewed. The definition of restaurant criticism. How I select openings that are ripe for review.
Before I tuck into this month’s review, a couple of points:
Reading Marina O’Loughlin’s FT column earlier this month in defence of restaurant criticism, had me nodding along to every word. I would urge anyone with a professional or leisure interest in restaurants to have a read, i.e. all of you! It’s behind the FT paywall, however this gifted article should work for the first few clicks. Or buy yourself a subscription - money well spent. My favourite sentence that sums up her argument:
The clue’s in the name: a critic without criticism is PR.
Something that, undoubtedly, Gordon Ramsay would disagree with, given his foul-mouthed objection to traditional restaurant critics in his new Netflix docu-series. I succumbed to watching all six episodes last week.
What’s important to add is that reviews can only by classified as such when the reviewer has paid the bill. A word so often abused here in this age of freebie meals.
On that note, I often get asked how I select restaurants to review - so I thought I would share my decision process.
I have a rolling list on Evernote of new homegrown openings with a link to the restaurant website, menu and opening date. I try and dine at these restaurants between one month (allowing time to settle in) and three months of opening. If that doesn’t happen because of too many openings, and well…a busy life, the restaurant drops off the review list - and wings its way to a ‘when I have time to visit’ list.
Mid-week, I take a look and decide where I fancy dining at the weekend. I typically review on weekends, and book if reservations are required (under a pseudonym of course) a day or two in advance, unless it’s one of those tiresome, hard-to-get-a-table restaurants, which forces me to plan well in advance.
I mix up different locations and cuisines. And I like to prioritise new restaurants that I’ve heard of through word of mouth, aka the underdogs - over those whose press releases have landed in my inbox or are plastered all over social media.
Onto Orilla…which translates to ‘shore’ in Spanish. The first solo venture of chef Saradhi Dakara, formerly executive chef of The Maine Group, serving a ‘Mediterrasian’ menu, as per the restaurant’s publicity.
Sometimes I give restaurants a second chance. Allow me to rewind…
A few weeks before booking this particular dinner, I called Orilla to enquire whether it has a terrace with a view for an al fresco lunch (the online photos were elusive). I phoned twice around the 12noon opening on two different listed mobile numbers (there’s no indication of any landline). Zero response, and even worse, no call back. Ever. So I gave up and dined elsewhere instead.
As I’m keen to review, I decided to give Orilla another go - and reserved dinner online a couple of weeks later.
For the rest of this 800-word review covering the food, service, location, interior, atmosphere, value for money and photos, you may like to join my foodie tribe. Due to popular demand, I’ve extended the FooDiva anniversary offer of 15% discount on monthly, annual and gift subscriptions - redeemable until end of this week, midnight Sunday 1st March.
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