Virginia Wood Posts Blind Item Review

In today's Chronicle, Virginia Wood declines to name names and offers a blind item on how to avoid a bad review. What we know: the restaurant opened in late spring "housed in a prime piece of Downtown real estate that's hosted a revolving door of bar concepts," and the menu features everything from "tacos, fries, quesadillas, duck rillettes, Hawaiian poke, risotto, carne asada, mussels Sauvignon, beet salad, burgers, and panini."

Wood notes that concept appears to be derived from "each stop on the inept kitchen manager's résumé," and that the staff stood "chatting with other employees" instead of working. The food itself suffers from "squiggly sauce paintings" and "an entire meal's worth of salt should not come in one bowl of soup." Wood suggests the menu used buzzwords like 'organic' to cover over "cheap proteins." Despite the fact that the restaurant was "almost empty," it took "30 minutes" for the drinks to reach the table. Finally, chefs/owners, Wood notes that it is "bad manners" to "stare at the diners" or "eavesdrop" and "demand to know how the food is." As for why Wood has decided not to name the restaurant in the review: "they know who they are." Eater readers, get to speculating.

Update! Commenters have pointed out that the menu at the Austin Ale House appears to match Wood's description.
· How to Avoid a Bad Review [Chronicle]
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