Phantom Gourmet Guide to Bostons Best Restaurants 2008

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For the record, Dan Andelman did have the decency to apologize for some of his sexist comments. Just heard about tvdiner cancellation. Dave Andelman September 17, He will mention my name. Some of his pals will say how much they hate me and be typical FB [Facebook] tough guys, even though I could knock them out in two minutes in real life. Do I have that right, [Food Blogger]? Food Festival Sept 29! Here are a few examples:. Dave Andelman May 8, Dave Andelman September 30, My response would be to wonder if your street festivals just suck.

I mentioned questionable business pratices earlier in this post. Are you kidding me? This article is blatantly stupid on a number of levels. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has less right to whine about bullying than you and your family. Please explain how Yelp making money from its advertisers is any different from the PG shilling for its advertisers.

The reviews are more advertisement than anything resembling a review. Yelp may contain some reviews which are questionable in objectivity and content, but everything in the Phantom Gourmet is questionable in bias and taste. Dave Andelman is absolutely correct: The Phantom needs to take off his own kneepads first before he slags another business for profiting from opinion prostitution. And that was just the beginning of their problems.

Restaurant and Business Alliance. By definition, a lobby is nakedly quid pro quo: I pay my dues, you fight for my interests. I see the latter as classic crony capitalism, pushing selective government regulation to quash new competitors for the benefit of established entrants.

But at least the interdependencies are fairly blatant, out in the open. Where I find it less ethically sound is wherever the relationship is less explicitly disclosed, as in how the Phantom Gourmet TV show plays fluffer to its sponsors while pretending to be real reviewers, consumer advocates, critical guides to what is genuinely good. Dave Andelman has shown his true colors. Subsequent to my last blog post , I sent an email to several members of all types of media asking the following question:.

He also stated that all hostesses were incompetent and incapable of doing anything else. The degradation of women and insults made on the radio program are unacceptable.

Please read the email and see the recommendations at the end of this post if you support the call for a public apology from the Andelmans. My name is Patrick Maguire. You had a week between radio shows to reflect on your comments that were posted on the You failed to do that, and mysteriously the audio has been removed from the Yesterday, he told us the comments were meant to be facetious. Are you really surprised, Mike? You called a woman a moron and a monkey!!! You sounded angry, agitated and vindictive.

If you stand by your comments, then why not re-post the audio on I am writing on behalf of everyone who has contacted me and asked me to request a public apology from you and Dan. Here is who deserves an apology and why:. How would you respond if someone made those comments about a female family member, friend or colleague of yours on a public radio show?

A Boston Food Diary: The comments made about the hostess are insanely inappropriate. Every host I worked with was in college and working until midnight to pay for it. Glad the Andelmans have such a high opinion of women. They are rude, condescending and clearly have no idea how a restaurant works. One of them has been accepted to multiple Ivy League schools, she just needs to pick one. Sound like a brainless monkey to you? Greeting guests, fielding phone calls, taking coats, seating guests, managing the seating chart, managing the wait list, making sure all servers are getting an equal amount of covers [guests].

Occasionally they take cocktail orders and deliver them. All while looking cool and calm. Hey Michael-Just thought you should know — I am a hostess. In fact, most of us will probably do much more important things with our lives in the long run than you. For better or for worse, in this case worse some people trust you for dining advice and restaurant etiquette.

You should know how well-run restaurants work. The Grill 23 incident, and your subsequent comments, indicate that you do not understand standard restaurant protocol, nor how to escalate service or hospitality concerns. Restaurant customers have almost as much influence on the success of the dining experience as do restaurant employees. Putting up with the demanding public goes with the territory as a restaurant employee, but tolerating abuse and disparaging, inappropriate remarks should not. Yeah, she says no, and so we basically, you know under our breath say F-you and we leave, and we walk across the street.

Instead, you did nothing and set a bad example for diners and all amateur restaurant reviewers by using your radio platform to complain. By doing so, you are encouraging misguided, elitist customers who think that bitching publicly Yelp, Chowhound, etc. Those guys owe that hostess, and Grill 23, a great big apology…. If I had run and gotten the manager every time some whiny bastard acted like he had never been asked to wait in a busy restaurant before, the manager would hate me for it.

If Mike had asked to speak to a manager, or become utterly intractable, then, yes, a manager would have to be consulted …. Phantom Gourmet is not to be trusted if they do not understand how to be diners or how to lead by example. I worked in restaurants for 8 years, including some very high-end ones…Feel free to make requests; most will happily honor them. The customer is not right in this situation, and the hostess was doing her job by offering the customer an alternative.

Concerning their remarks on the radio program — they should be ashamed of themselves. Hearing that type of dialogue on air! The frequency of this situation truly illustrates the sense of entitlement that people feel in restaurants. Show me any other retail which is what restaurants are store that will let you do whatever you want when you want to. Yes, you risk losing that particular customer, but for most businesses, that will be a net gain. Although in her defense she was good-looking, apparently. Was she wearing yoga pants? These are things I want to know. I have a thing for hostesses.

This email is being circulated via blog post to every current and former restaurant industry employee I can reach, all members of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, as well as every media outlet and restaurant in the Greater Boston Area and beyond. Tom Baker-Boston Market Manager: Grace Blazer- Boston Program Director: Feel free to cc me on your email patrick servernotservant. The studio line is , or Verizon wireless The morning after I agreed to appear, I sent an email to the senior producer who booked me asking if Phantom Gourmet had made a decision about their affiliation with The Upper Crust Pizzeria, a major sponsor embroiled in a controversy involving their exploitation of undocumented workers.

There was no response to my email so I left a voicemail and a second email the next day. A day later they unabashedly promoted Upper Crust on facebook. That endorsement solidified their position, and was enough for me to withdraw from the TV show via email. I never received a response from the producer. For those of you unfamiliar with Phantom Gourmet, they are a Boston-based company that features weekly radio and TV shows devoted to food, restaurants and dining out. The company is owned by the Andelman brothers, Dan, Dave and Mike. Their mystique shtick is more accurate is centered around an anonymous restaurant critic the Phantom whose reviews appear on their program.

Their shows are largely infomercials for their sponsors laced with more inane banter than I can stomach. Ironically, they often mock and insult their own audience as well as the people who attend and work at their events. I tuned in to a few of the Phantom Gourmet programs, only to see if they responded to the widespread media coverage surrounding the Upper Crust imbroglio.

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Some blogs and real media companies tried taking some unfair, untrue, and obviously coordinated shots at Phantom Gourmet last week. We immediately added Facebook Phans and dominated the TV ratings. The infamous Phantom Gourmet radio program is one of the most painful media programs I have ever endured.

Eddie, the sportscaster patriarch of the family, was filling in for Dave who was on vacation. When you ask Bostonians about the best steak houses in town, Grill 23 is often their number one choice. The food and service are consistently excellent. There are 2 bars for customers to wait in before dinner service starts at 5: The first floor bar area has nineteen stools and the second floor bar has ten stools.

Apparently, there were no barstools open so Mike and Eddie suggested that they get a drink from the bar and sit at a table in the dining room and wait until 5: She said the bar over there, you can stand at the bar and have a drink. Well I said to her, Is it all right if we sit down? The tables are all set.

Yeah, she says no, and so we basically, you know, under our breath say F-you, and we leave, and we walk across the street. We were willing to sit at a table and have some drinks until 5: The restaurant was open. The bar was open. Every server was there. You think it was going to make a big deal if Eddie and I sat down…? The era is over of being able to treat customers like crap. Although in her defense she was good-looking apparently. I have a thing for hostesses laughing. The fact that it was ever available after the show is mind-boggling.

I have retained a recorded copy if anyone would like to hear it. For context, the entire conversation from the broadcast that I recorded for translation can be heard here:. Click on play to the right of: I encourage everyone who will be commenting on this post to listen to the segment before commenting. Dan hit the nail on the head with his explanation.

What if they let everyone who arrived early wander into the dining room and sit down? Once you make an exception or try to be flexible, people always want more. And what happens when someone breaks a glass or spills their drink all over the table? More service is required when the service staff is busy learning the daily specials or working on a multitude of other tasks required to prepare the dining room for service.

Grill 23 has been in business since On my list of 64 Suggestions for Restaurant Customers , number 23 reads, Respect the fact that restaurants have policies for specific reasons, despite the fact that they might not make sense to you. Despite the temptation, please keep the comments respectful and civil. As always, all comments will be moderated before they are posted. A firestorm was ignited when a recent front page Boston Globe story reported that Upper Crust Pizza , a rapidly-growing local chain, hired and exploited illegal immigrant workers from Brazil.

According to the Globe: The promise of a job at an Upper Crust shop, passed by word of mouth from one villager to the next, offered the possibility of wages unheard of in Marilac [Brazil], a community of 4, people in the mountains of southeastern Brazil. Over the past decade, dozens of men from Marilac have made the 7,mile trek, risking arrest, deportation, and in rare cases, death.

Over time, however, this amicable but unlawful relationship would unravel. Documents from a recent class action lawsuit show that as Tobins expanded his pizza empire, he began to exploit his immigrant workers. The employees took their complaints to the US Department of Labor, which ordered the chain to dole out hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay. The department is now investigating wage violations at Upper Crust for a second time. As always, comments in response to the Globe report , as well as on a related Boston Yelp Talk thread exploded with hundreds of missives ranging from the typical anonymous hate and vitriol to some very thoughtful and insightful observations.

What really got my attention was a comment made by Phantom Gourmet during the exchange of comments within the thread following the post:. Hurting this company, or any other company, is not what our state needs right now.

In case Phantom Gourmet takes the post and related comments down, I have provided the comments in the order that they appeared:. Why is Phantom Gourmet assisting in advertising Upper Crust when they are under investigation for employment issues? I would think you would want to keep your distance until the end results come out. Give me a break! They are in a business, not a charity!

I will second the vote for Upper Crust Pizza. Bob, good for you, they have hundreds of employees and do a lot for charity and generate millions in tax revenue, I would think we would all be rooting for businesses to expand and hire. Plus, the pizza is really tasty. Yes, Bob, exploitation of their employees.

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Dave Andelman continues to run the company while also appearing as an unseen narrator during the restaurant segments and frequent on-air contributor. During special theme shows usually ones that discuss more popular fare like chain restaurants and fast food , the two Andelman brothers are sometimes joined in a panel by other brother Michael. Their father, Eddie , known for his annual " Hot Dog Safari " charity event, has also been featured on the show as an expert on hot dogs. Dave Andelman appeared on an episode of Throwdown!

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This version had been on the air since , and usually consisted of an audio version of a Restaurant Report Card , although at times a Great 8 segment appeared on the station. The Phantom's report cards also appear in print in the Boston Herald Friday editions, and online at the Phantom Gourmet's website after each episode airs. The website also contains web versions of the Great 8 , Top of the Food Chain , and Hidden Jewel segments of the television program. The term Phantom Gourmet is also used to describe the critic who reviews for each of the above programs. According to the website , the Phantom "pays his own way" and dines under a disguise to give the most trustworthy restaurant reviews the company can possibly give to their viewers.

This is done because the producers believe that recognizable critics are given special service above what average customers receive, whereas concealing the Phantom's identity allows him a more accurate representation of what other customers experience. To this end, the Phantom Gourmet staff refuse to disclose the Phantom's name to the general public. The only clues that have been given are that he doesn't live in Boston or Providence and it has been stated that the Phantom is not Andelman.

On the June 3, show, host Dan Andelman conducted an interview with the Phantom, whose voice and identity were altered. They revealed that the Phantom's favorite food is pizza, and also that, despite the show's use of "he" to refer to the critic, the Phantom could still be a woman. At some point prior to , the Phantom critic and his reviews were removed from the television program's format.

The Phantom Gourmet is no longer... - No Name Restaurant

Numerical ratings have been discontinued. The Phantom's most critically acclaimed restaurants in Boston and the Greater Boston area serve various foods at the event. Andelman and his brothers have also taken over the longtime hot dog fundraiser that their father, sports radio talk show host Eddie Andelman , had hosted for the last 19 years.

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