Have you noticed The Record is running what sound like restaurant reviews on the Better Living front on Wednesdays? Star ratings aren't given, as they were in the Friday restaurant reviews that ended in November 2016 with the departure of critic Elisa Ung, several months after the newspaper was sold to Gannett Co. And prices don't always appear. Nor are readers assured The Record paid for the reviewer's meals.
On Dec. 12 (last Wednesday), Food Editor Esther Davidowitz panned The Hill, a highly anticipated seafood restaurant that opened in Closter after many months of delay. The headline said the restaurant "doesn't quite wow." Davidowitz said she visited four times, and "each time left disappointed and perplexed." Four times? She mentions only 7 appetizers and entrees in her appraisal. Did she go alone? She says, "I have eaten chef Ben Pollinger's food at Oceana, that seafood mecca in Manhattan where the Oradell resident worked for many years, and can vouch for his terrific cooking skills. Perhaps my expectations were too high."
On Dec. 5, Davidowitz appraised Vanillamore, a dessert lounge and restaurant in Montclair that would be avoided like the plague by anyone watching their cholesterol and sugar intake, as are many older readers of The Record. She praises "delightfully innovative, extraordinarily stylized desserts" and "beautifully plated savory dishes."
On Nov. 21, Davidowtitz reviewed yet another Montclair restaurant, even though the town isn't in Bergen County, once the heart of The Record's readership. She says the kitchen of the Montclair Social Club "sends out some of the best food my dining companions and I had eaten in North Jersey in some time." Again, there is no star rating or assurance The Record paid for the meals.