Comments on: Mr Lethlean I presume

By: Zoe

Zoe — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:37:56 +0000

I thought it was incoherently targeted. If they were looking to attract the super-food focused types, what was new? The duck pages new to them, but familiar stuff to anyone who’s read a GT/Vogue Entertaining/Cuisine in the last 15 years. Omitting the prices was irritating and, as Injera says, tone-deaf.

But the real problem is getting new (to them) restaurant reviewers, new (old) wine writers and not adding another writer to accompany David Herbert’s recipes. No complaints about what he does, it’s nicely judged stuff, and if he’s a bit cloying the food is approachable and cookable. But where’s the stretch? They need a cheffy writer too.

By: jessie

jessie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:35:01 +0000

I think this video from the australian website says it all:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=81021156372&h=0kyYq&u=plBF6&ref=mf

I guess it’s a cheap shot, but the way he pronounces restaurants made me giggle a bit. Well, a lot. And then Necia’s declaration of hoping to cover some really interesting “issews”…followed by her inability to think of any off the top of her head didn’t strike me as REVOLUTIONARY, exactly.

By: Injera

Injera — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:58:21 +0000

You’re spot on regarding the timing/”sense of place” – I felt that a lot of it was tone-deaf, given the current times. I’d actually forgotten about the “Kitchen Fundamentals” page, but was rather surprised that a $36 nutcracker and a gimmicky-looking coffee maker were included as “fundamentals”.

As for the lack of price information in the food reviews, I’m not sure that restauranteurs would be all that pleased, either. MoMo isn’t doing itself any favours with a website still under construction filler page, but describing the cost as a “fairly serious commitment” is off-putting without being actually informative.

Given what seems like a rather wobbly commitment to food coverage by the local (Melbourne) dailies, I’m keen to see how this evolves.

Mmmmm, duck…

By: Ruby

Ruby — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:29:48 +0000

I’m not a fan of Lethlean anyway, but I did read the Weekend Oz magazine just to see what he and Necia had to say. Their blurbs about the current hot eateries left out crucial details about price – an important matter for plebs who pay for their own meals.

The cover shot was very ordinary – they appeared to look like twins!

I enjoyed reading Christine Manfield’s perspective on the food miles debate. She made some important points about supporting local and artisan producers.