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Exit The Fox... the better part of the last ten or eleven months, I have struggled mightily with a number of issues related to my reviews, my "career", my association with On the Fox and my relationship with someone I have known for over 30 years who has been my colleague, confident, my sounding board on reviews and, more importantly, my friend. The words that follow are difficult for me, although the handwriting has long been on the wall. I have always prided myself on telling the truth, no matter how painful. I learned that lesson a very long time ago from a man I unfortunately lost before we really got to know each other - my father. The truth, however painful at the time, was far superior to an untruth he always reminded me. And so I have always prided myself in telling the truth, without embellishment and without fabrication. When I started to write reviews of the restaurants at which Lauren and I dined, it was only natural for me to tell the story, exactly how it occurred. In the over seven years since that first review (Fantastico in 1999 - a disaster, by the way), I have had the pleasure of having dinner at over 70 restaurants - reviews of almost fifty in the Fox Valley alone can be found on this site.
The majority of the restaurants were good ones and the reviews reflected it. Occasionally we just ran into evenings where the bottom seemed to fall out... and the review reflected it Having spent twenty-five or so years "in the business" doing everything from bussing tables to managing, I have seen much, and I am fully aware that a place may have an off night. Experience however has taught me that it is as easy as breathing to tell the difference between a place that is good but may have had an off night and a place that thinks that their garbage doesn't stink and doesn't have a clue as to how to run a business - let alone a restaurant. At least it is for me. And at this point, I really don't care how cocky that may sound. I am not a "papered" chef, but there are things that I can do in my own humble kitchen of which many restaurants are simply incapable. Most recently, a restaurant owner/manager declined to list their establishment with my former employer because they were "connected" with me. Another owner - disturbed because I had made some negative comments about terrible service and two absolutely egregious meals that Lauren and I had there - wanted to "take that guy out behind the woodshed and beat the sh-- out of him". (Actually I don't believe he ever read my re-written review with the vast majority of negative statements removed. I had sent a copy of the original to him so he could see it and address the issues with his staff - I never published it. He still claims that I don't know what I am talking about) I have since spent a good deal of time pondering my past experiences here in the Fox Valley and my future writing about it. More than 95% of the time - at least in the Fox Valley area - Lauren and I have spent our own money for the diners we have had. We have chosen places to eat on a random basis, and we have made reservations under a different name. I wanted to be an anonymous diner just like the majority of you out there. My presence here seems now to have become more of a nuisance than anything. I guess I never could do a Vettel kind of review and rave about a place and its food, only to give it a mediocre rating, which leaves people wondering what went wrong with the dinner. Sad thing is, my decision will affect those of you who have continued to come to the site to find information about dining venues in the area more than it will the restaurants and their owners, the majority of whom only want a five-star rating, but don't know a thing about how to properly train a staff to earn it. There are a few marvelous venues who can really impress, but unfortunately not too many others follow the example. For those of you in that group, you need to get out more often. Perhaps you will learn a thing or two about food and service. There is an abundance of restaurants not far to the east that offer better and less expensive food and service to match. Or treat yourself to a trip to the left coast and see what fine dining is all about. Snobish? Maybe... but I would rather pay for the trip - east or west - and get first class service, than stay here and wish for it. My mother used to say: "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!" Another adage says that "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Perhaps I just can't stand the heat of the Fox Valley's kitchen... and perhaps the Fox Valley can't stand the heat of the truth in some of my reviews. It makes no difference. I have written my last review for the Tri-Cities. Unfortunately, as of October 1st, I am also removing ALL of my local reviews - the good ones as well as the bad (so get your last read). Many will no doubt be relieved and happy. I hope that there are still those of you out there that like to read the truth. For you, I will likely be writing more about the fine establishments in other locales. Stay tuned... If you have questions or comments, contact me at: Reviews@RalphPancetta.com.
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