Sunday, September 06, 2009

Media Wars Continue: Bloggers vs Critics


It has begun!

In yet another (dozen or so) instances of the Media Wars between food & wine bloggers and food and wine print critics and reviewers, the kid gloves have come off. Name calling begins, chaos insues, and hope of an early understanding that these two camps are one day going to be filled with the same people has not yet been recognized.

It's also interesting that many of the allegations being made about each other are not quite factual. Hmmm. Who keeps track of the facts these days, anyway?

That being said, or hypothesized, here's a list of fascinating skirmishes for you to read:

Esquire Restaurant Critic John Mariani is Having Dinner at Graham Elliot Tonight (MenuPages)
Esquire Editor Defends John Mariani (GrubStreet)
Why Does Everyone Hate John Mariani? (GrubStreet)
Changes at The Wine Advocate? (DrVino.com)
These Wine Bloggers Are… (Domaine547)
Leave Me out of your Tail Wagging, Finger Pointing Ego Contest (GoodGrape.com)


TasteTV Events include:

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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Chronicle Has the Lock on Top Chef Books


Top Chef continues to dominate the foodie world, and the Chronicle Books is there to share in the glory, so says Publishers Weekly magazine.

Chronicle won Top Chef: The Cookbook in a “competitive auction” and published the book in March 2008. It has 150,000 copies in print, and publishing director Mikyla Bruder says “it has backlisted very nicely.” The main focus of Chronicle’s marketing campaign was advertising on edgy, popular sites like Eater, Eater Los Angeles, Eater San Francisco and Grub Street. Print ads ran inFood & Wine (which is a partner of the show) and the New Yorker’s annual food issue. The publisher organized Q&As and signings for contestants (er, “cheftestants”) at Barnes & Noble stores, and promoted the book and events heavily on Bravotv.com and on air throughout the fourth and fifth seasons. The book was also featured in episodes in both of those seasons, which Peter Perez, Chronicle’s senior marketing manager of food and drink, said “led to major sales spikes.” Chronicle has updated the book twice, each time adding a recipe from the new season

Don't you love it that people are reading books again?