Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Restaurant News Restaurateurs Respond to MBJ's Best Chef in Memphis Bracket: "We feel we will have to respect[fully] decline your offer to participate"
Posted by Susan Ellis on Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 6:44 PM
Restaurateurs and chefs included in the Memphis Business Journal's Best Chef in Memphis tournament — which pits 32 chefs against each other in a bracket, with online voting to determine a winner — responded Wednesday afternoon with a letter to the paper.
The letter outlines the community spirit of Memphis restaurateurs and reads, in part, "The people who have chosen to make Memphis their culinary home in the past few years have done so with the forethought that Memphis can be and is different than other cut-throat restaurant towns. As such, we feel we will have to respect[fully] decline your offer to participate in the MBJ's Best Chef in Memphis Competition as it is currently structured. It just does not reflect the way in which we choose to do business and support each other."
The full letter below ...
Dear Mr. Epley & The MBJ Staff,Thank you for your recent offer to participate in the inaugural MBJ's Best Chef in Memphis competition. As people who work hard everyday to elevate the culinary experience in Memphis, we appreciate your coverage of the restaurant and hospitality industry in the Bluff City. The MBJ can serve a vital role in helping to tell the story of the incredible economic, cultural and social impact the restaurant industry has on the MidSouth, and spread the word of the amazing culinary talent and even more unique, the story of our community of shared success.
As the Memphis restaurant scene has continued to develop, especially with the increase of Chef-Owned Restaurants, we as key players in this development have worked to cultivate an environment of inclusiveness. Luckily, this is an environment that is natural to the many of us who have chosen to make Memphis our Restaurant Home. Instead of competing with each other, we send each other business. Instead of poaching talented staff, we share resources to ensure a future of talent. If one of us runs out of lettuce, we run down the street and get a loaner from our neighbor. If one of us receives national praise, the rest of us promote the great news to our own customers. Is there a competitive spirit? Of course. We are, after all, business people. But the people who have chosen to make Memphis their culinary home in the past few years have done so with the forethought that Memphis can be and is different than other cut-throat restaurant towns.
As such, we feel we will have to respect[fully] decline your offer to participate in the MBJ's Best Chef in Memphis Competition as it is currently structured. It just does not reflect the way in which we choose to do business and support each other. We encourage you to look to organizations that focus on highlighting the positives of restaurant communities, such as Cochon555. They have developed a fun way to highlight the talents of local chefs and at the same time elevate the entire food community, rather than "squaring us off" against each other in an arbitrary popularity contest. That is not beneficial to anyone, in the restaurant community or beyond.
We hope that through this process, you may have a little more insight into how much we work together to promote Memphis as a culinary family that is and will continue to be a shining star of the South. That is the real story and one worth telling time and time again.
With Regards,
Patrick & Deni Reilly, The Majestic Grille
Kelly English, Restaurant Iris
Felicia Willett, Felicia Suzanne's
Jose Gutierrez & Colleen DePete, River Oaks
John Littlefield & Bert Smythe, McEwen's & Alchemy
Ryan Trimm, Sweet Grass & Next Door
Andrew Ticer & Michael Hudman, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen
Jeff Dunham, The Grove Grill
Jonathan Magallanes, Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana
Jason & Rebecca Severs, Bari Ristorante e Enoteca
Bill Taras, Jim's Place East
Mac Edwards, Gannon Hamilton, Leslee Pascal, The Elegant Farmer
John Bragg, Circa
Robbie Cirillo, Bleu & the Westin
Javier Lopez, Folks Folly
Karen Carrier, The Beauty Shop, Molly Fontaine's, Do
Nick Scott, BlueFin Edge Cuisine
David Cleveland & Laura Krug, Cortona
Tommy Peters, Itta Bena, BB King's
Michael Patrick, Rizzo's
"We all work very hard to support each other, promote each other," said one restaurateur who signed the letter. "We all work together to create a restaurant community in Memphis."
When asked how the MBJ's contest differed with the Flyer's Best of Memphis poll and Memphis magazine's Restaurant Poll, the restaurateur responded, "You're not necessarily pitting restaurants against each other." The restaurateur said that MBJ had reached out to those included in the bracket and suggested they use social media to "smack talk each other."
The restaurateur noted that there were some in the bracket who had not signed the letter but that it did not indicate if they agreed or disagreed with the letter to MBJ, only that they could not be reached before the letter was sent on Wednesday before 5 p.m.
Voting in the Best Chef in Memphis began today and runs through February.
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MBJ Suspends Best Chef in Memphis Contest
- Feb 2, 2012
Comments (32)
Showing 1-32 of 32
Wow, what an enlightened attitude. Just imagine if other sectors in the business community adopted the same attitude about cutthroat competition. Are you paying attention, Gatti Keltner and Corey B. Trotz? Somehow, I doubt it.
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I'd like to see something like this from the music community here.
We were not contacted by anyone but we agree with our friends and colleagues in the industry.
Happy to see this called for what it really is....a popularity contest. Very disappointed in MBJ.
How is the MBJ bracket different from any other "vote for your favorite restaurant" poll? Because it puts the restaurants head to head for a vote? This seems like a big overreaction from the chefs and restaurants. They should should be happy to be included in the conversation about the best chef in Memphis rather than complain about a reader's poll.
Really?
This sounds like a lot of crying for no reason. I frequent many of these restaurants but these guys need to get over themselves and be happy they are getting some free pub. Iris and Rizzo's were even asking people to vote for them earlier today. I wonder why they had a change of heart
This is no different than the Flyer's poll -- it's all a popularity contest but what's wrong with voting for your favorite restaurant???
Hopefully AM and Iris will be focused on food by Saturday and not this. Pumped about Cochon 555
So many great places to eat in Memphis. Food is a very important to the south, and holds a special place in memphis to all of us. All the chefs in memphis are wonderful and great at all their specialties... Be proud, and love this town for all its worth.
Is there a proofreader in the house? It's "Restaurateur"' not "Restauranteur".
This is not "pick your favorite restaurant", this is pick from who MBJ has chosen! What about the guys at the Brass Door? Napa Cafe? Chez Philippe? Just to name a few!
I respect a lot of the chefs nominated and think, for the most part, that the MBJ did a good job in their selection process. Sure, there will be great chefs that were left off and this will always happen in any type of "best of" poll. So the MBJ wanted to mix it up and try something different. It's a readers poll! The letter and the reaction from the chefs was kind of comical. First they blast out tweets to vote for them and then they all have this change of heart because they don't like "squaring off"? It's a cut throat industry.....grow a pair people.
This bracket is different because it knocks out "contenders" early in the process which creates "least favorites". And, it may simply be that the voter has never dined at one establishment so they simply vote for the other. In a "favorite restaurant/chef"reader's poll you just put the name of your favorite chef in the hat and the person with the most votes wins. As readers we never know who got the least amount of votes, or no votes at all. This is VERY different and creates an ugly atmosphere.
I just don't think there needs to be this type of backlash for a readers poll. The MBJ was trying something different by doing the "head to head" thing. They probably will not do it again, but all of this "hey brah, the head to head vibe is so unpleasant and is causing people to get their mellows harshed" is laughable. Stop being so soft people!
Maybe the MBJ needs to stop being so "soft." Looks like their stunt has flopped.
Well...you guys are a bunch of whiners...and for this I will not visit any of the aforementioned restaurants....with one less customer...maybe you won't need to borrow that head of lettuce.
I believe it's the fact that we as chefs have worked very hard to make Memphis more than a BBQ town. It wasn't just one chef, it was a whole community of chefs and foodies. And we are a tight knit community that knows we need each other to succeed, even if it is a cut throat business.
As to the chefs being a community that supports its own, I agree. I remind you all of when Bernard Chang was assaulted and stabbed by one of his own staff. It was the other chefs in the city, including Jimmy Ishii, that come together and keep the restaurant open while Bernard was in the hospital. How may other cities do you thing that might happen in?
Nobody is talking smack Jeff. People are voicing their opinions and I was calling the whole "blaaah....putting chef's head to head compromises the whole vibe of Memphis culinary unity" as a little bit lame. Again, I've said it a bunch, it's a fun poll for readers to engage and see what chef would win in this type of format.
Chefgate 2012
I absolutely LOVE this. Some of the best restaurant recommendations I have ever received have come from other restaurateurs. This attitude is ultimately what keeps me going out to eat.
Well, that and my hatred of doing the dishes. :(
I am all for the chefs being a community and supporting each other, that's a great thing. What I don't understand is how a bracket-style reader's poll hurts that. I don't consider that an "ugly atmosphere", as one poster put it. Can they not handle having a poll say that readers prefer another restaurant over theirs? I guess they would prefer if they all just got blue ribbons for effort. These chefs need to lighten up and quit complaining.
You guys better hurry up and form a protest over the I Love Memphis blog's wings brackets.
I sure admire the camaraderie you restaurant types have, but boy oh boy, the local bleaching industry would kill for that kind of publicity. I know Quint at The Dusty Rose agrees with me, as does Dakota at Carnation Creation.
I wasn't refering to the comments, I was refering to MBJ encouraging the chefs to smack talk each other as part of the contest. That, and not the reader poll, is probably what offended the chefs.
So what you're saying, Smitty, is that in the bleaching world, don't turn your back on a competitor?
And never, ever, ever fall for the 'your shoe is untied' ploy?
The 'shoe untied' ploy has kept all of us in business at one time or another. Blake over at Gayola Crayola still uses it frequently. So does Pamela across town at Calamine Ocean.
I'm just glad we have so many choices in this city, and that Smitty's hasn't turned into the Kroger of sphincter enhancement. Not that I don't want to see Smitty's do well. Smitty does a bang-up job, especially with local ingredients. But when one wants, for example, the St. Louis tossed salad dressing, that's not really on the Smitty's menu.
Well, the contest has been taken down by the MBJ. What was supposed to be fun turned into something really lame. Shame on the chefs.
The MBJ response:
http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/blog/2012/02/memphis-chef-competition-turns-sour.html
The fact that these chefs were contacted prior to the contest and that some were initially tweeting for support (I saw one from Bleu for example) makes their subsequent whiney protest letter even more lame.
What a crying shame that readers have to call names. The independent coffee house community here in Memphis works the same way. Yes we might be "competing" for the same $$$, but trash talking other places isn't how I do business.
I get repeated requests from folks to add things to our menu that they enjoy at other places. The answer is NO. You like something at Eclectic, go there. You want live music w/your coffee, go to Otherlands. Fried Potatoes w/an omellete, go to Brother J's>
Being "voted" into a winning group or poll is A LOT different then putting award winning chefs off the island in a smack down format.
Republic Coffee is proud of the votes we get from reader polls, we crow about them a little bit, but we also lend hardware and paper goods to other owners when they need it, as they to us. And we would never put up an ad about how we beat out someone for the title.
Ultimately, I was reminded once my Mac Edwards, it's about building a destination, not about competition.
MJB and the chefs got press out of this, and that's what it was all about in the first place. MJB building readership and chefs getting their names out. The title or name "lame" usually fits the person using it.
Fitz Dearmore, Republic Coffee
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