Well, busy is my first lame excuse. The holiday season is a big one for food writers what with all the wine pairing with turkey (although look for my column in the Herald next week about some great boutique beers instead of wine) and how to brine and what's the difference between stuffing and dressing and all that.

And since blogs deal with the minutia of every day life as if anyone cares, I did start dating someone. So much of my time has been spent staring dreamily off into space. He can cook.

But I'm back and am ready to blog away.

We have some great guests coming up on Portsmouth Community Radio in the next few weeks. Listen in to wsca at 106.1 this Friday to hear my friend Denise Landis talk with Susan and I about her new book Dinner For Eight. She's a recipe tester for the NY Times and has some great stories.

And here's a cocktail to try I had recently:

Absolut Kurant Vodka
Chambord
champagne. in whatever proportions taste good for you. I like more champagne.

Talk to you later.

Yippie, you're back. :) Now all the silly rumors will subside.

Oh you mean the rumor that I went to Sweden and had a sex change operation and am now to be known as Richard Forrest?

That's not just a rumor. But seriously folks, nah, I've just been busy.

Hey as a reviewer do you think you're a little to easy on some of these area restaurants? Certainly there are some great places but some of these bigger investors who've entered the Dover New Hampshire market may be a little too big for their britches (so to speak). For example Little Louie's Fish House. We ate there for the first time based on good reviews. Is it me or are the recipes lacking depth? Enjoyed their specialty drinks, Particularly the lemoncello. These drinks however are a bit strong and tend to obscure the palate by the time food arrives. I would prefer a more enhanced beer and wine menu when sitting down for a gourmet meal. I had an oysters appetizer which was cooked to perfection but the overall recipe and presentation was bland. My dinner choice of steak with herbs was regretful. My wife also ordered the steak. Both were cooked just as we had requested but the flavor of the herbs coating the steak overwhelmed the entire plate and my wife described the steak cut as grizzly. The plate was bland and without presentation. No sauce to fill out the plate. Perhaps a simple veal reduction accompaniment would have mellowed the overwhelming taste of the herbs. Overall the meal was relaxing and enjoyable but our menu choices didn't taste that great. Finally, Doesn't anyone serve water with dinner any more? Why should you have to ask? We've experienced this (lack of water service) at other area restaurants. If this is a new trend it certainly isn't a good one.

matt g.

Hi Matt.

The thing about restaurant reviewing is that there are a few concepts to keep in mind (IMHO)--one is the theory of subjectivity and the other is the theory of relativity.

The subjectivity concept is basically that what is published in the paper is in the end simply the reviewer's own opinion. We hope that it's an opinion based on an educated palate and a great deal of experience in restaurants in various aspects (both of which I like to think I have) but when it comes down to it, what I experience on my evenings in a place might not be the same as yours for a number of reasons (different chef, bad mood of the waitress, timing, different mixologist, or just my taste, etc.) That's why people flock to chain restaurants in my opinion. You always know what you are going to get and it's always the same. There are no surprises week to week. So that's one of the challenges for a reviewer.

Then there's my theory of relativity which speaks to your question of being too easy on some of the restaurants. I have to measure these restaurants against each other in a few ways:

1. Against others of restaurant type. e.g. pizza joint to pizza joint, thai spot to thai spot, fine dining to fine dining. That's why a great example of a hot dog place will get 4 star from me. Is it a best case example of a hot dog joint? If so, then it gets rated highly.

2. Against others of its restaurant type in our area and only in our area. I've lived in NYC, Boston, SF, Paris, Thailand, loads of cosmopolitan places and I can't review these places as if they were in NYC. Are there better retaurants in Boston? Yep. But that ain't where we are. Would some of our area restaurants get four stars from me if they were in NYC. Nope. This is my universe.

3. I have to look at all factors--food, ambience, service, etc. so sometimes that's a challenge to average and weigh those factors. It's a wacky job but a fun one.

Anyway, Dover is an interesting place to watch for restaurants. Was it too early to have so many restaurants move in there? It's something I'm looking at.

And yeah, I think you shouldn't have to ask for water anywhere! It's free! Well, relatively free.

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)