This column originally ran in Wednesday’s Off Menu newsletter, where you’ll find restaurant news, gossip, tips, and hot takes every week. To sign up, visit the Standard’s newsletter page and select Off Menu.
All week long, one man has been cooking rent-free in our heads: chef Thomas Keller.
On Monday morning, the San Francisco Chronicle’s lead restaurant critic, MacKenzie Chung Fegan, published a doozy of a story about how Keller (almost) kicked her out of The French Laundry. The minute the piece dropped, phones started blowing up like there’d been an Emergency Alert System warning. Mine included.
In short (because Chung Fegan’s essay is long), the story tells of her “extraordinary” experience being recognized by Keller’s staff while dining, pulled aside, and politely asked by the chef to leave. Shocked, she assured Keller she wasn’t there to write a review. She got teary, recalling the days when she revered his culinary temple. With a catch in his throat, Keller shared his grievances of being on the receiving end of negative reviews over the years.
After they both had their Brené Brown moment, Keller caved. Instead of sending Chung Fegan and her friends home with grilled cheese, he lavished them with a complimentary meal — knowing full well the Chronicle doesn’t allow its reporters to accept comps.
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What followed the tell-all was a lot of chatter. At The Standard’s office, a bevy of editors thwacked opinions over desk partitions like a game of pickleball. One said Chung Fegan was “navel-gazing — remove the lint and move on”; another characterized her writing as “stupendous.” (I also thought it was great.) Food editor Lauren Saria empathized with Keller’s initial reaction to halt the potential for a review: “Yes, it makes him look petty, but this story won’t impact him in the same way a negative review would have.” Another editor compared Keller’s treatment to that of President Donald Trump’s dictatorial attitude toward the press — a man trying to control his own narrative.
I called a few restaurateurs to get their read. Across the board, they were Team Keller — defending his right to show a critic the back door. They said that since the reign of former Chronicle critic Soleil Ho, the paper’s reviews have led with a political agenda instead of focusing on the food. And chefs shouldn’t have to take it.
The only thing nearly everyone agreed on was a lack of pity for Chung Fegan. No matter the circumstances, it’s impossible to make people feel sorry for you after you’ve received a bazillion-course free meal personally cooked for you by Thomas Keller — apparently, a fair exchange for being held hostage past midnight.
My takeaway? The dance between critic and chef has always been just that — a charade at best, or an “ugly ballet,” as my colleague Astrid Kane astutely put it. Understandably, everyone is out for themselves. Sensitive chefs (even 69-year-old world-famous ones) who put their hearts and souls into their restaurants want the attention — but only when it is adoring. In turn, writers are always looking for a story that will turn all eyes on them. Except when it’s a critical eye.
After the Chronicle’s Top 100 was released (which, pointedly, did not include The French Laundry), Chung Fegan got an earful from many in the industry, including myself in this newsletter, faulting her for the ranking strategy as well as the omission of some very important restaurants. She clearly felt the sting of being publicly criticized. In a somewhat sheepish follow-up addressing the haters, she said, “I’m being clear-eyed about the situation, they probably don’t love me. … I’m an outsider writing words that can impact livelihoods.”
The power dynamic is different, however. A bad review that lives infinitum on the internet can cut a restaurant off at the knees. But a writer’s controversial opinion probably won’t put their work in jeopardy — if anything, it will just bring more clicks to their publication. In this case, the writer holds the power. The only thing the chef can do to fight back? Kick them out.