The Art of Critiquing 🍷

Most people look at the nature of my work as a luxury experience, presented in exchange for exposure; much like the types of an influencer. 

I beg to differ. 

Let’s understand the vocab first. 

A social media influencer is an individual who has established credibility and a substantial following on social media platforms, allowing them to influence the opinions and purchasing decisions of their audience. Kudos. 

A food critic, also known as a food reviewer or restaurant critic, is a writer who assesses and critiques restaurants, food, and the overall dining experience. They provide commentary on various aspects like food quality, taste, presentation, service, and ambiance, helping readers make informed decisions about where to dine. Food reviewers often have a deep understanding of culinary techniques, ingredients, and trends, and they may visit restaurants anonymously to ensure an unbiased experience. The purpose of a food critique is to provide informed and objective assessments to the public through various forms of content 💅

These are your basic AI generated Google Search results. Now, I cannot really speak for what an influencer does and what the job entails. A job is a means of income that, if you’re lucky, you enjoy - good on ya influencers - even the ‘tele-shopping-style’ ones. 

But I can speak for what a critic should do, what attributes they should have or aspire to have, and the mental ‘work-like’ strains it has on the job. 

What a reviewer does not do is get the names of dishes wrong, play a guessing game on what the protein is, order the same thing every single time, refuse to try something prepared by the kitchen, collect wine glasses at the table, turn up late to a restaurant, leave early, or not show up as a full party.

A reviewer often spends hours researching the restaurant scene, not for pleasure but for understanding of the climate, coordinates with Chef, restaurant manager and the like to ensure that everyone is comfortable with the procedure, clears the day to avoid any stressful events that might influence the experience, skips lunch to make sure their palate is open to receive and interpret, often also refraining from eating until the write up is documented so as not to confuse flavour memory, doubts themselves and attempts to rephrase and restructure to ensure content is presented justly and finally waits for feedback; that sometimes might not be received so well. 

Food reviewers learn how to adapt to their surroundings - in my case high-end restaurants in Malta and Gozo - whose goal is to share a piece of their story and allow you to join the journey. Every restaurant has a character and bajtra’s goal is to continue the storytelling through documented legacy; despite the personal mental or physical obstacles of the day – it’s work. You put that aside, you show up and you focus on the task at hand. It’s called respect and the restaurant, in its entirety, deserves that. 

The sad truth is that everyone has opinions and they are allowed to share them. Filtering through what or who makes sense in such a densely populated media outpour is hard. We often fall for the Instagrammable traps, with high hopes that their savvy gripping techniques will translate into craveable dishes at your table… but I for one, am often disappointed with mass opinion. Perhaps my years of training have given me enough insight to sift through the crappy façades… I am however human and susceptible to error. What you can bank on with bajtra is that when we disagree with ourselves, we’ll let you know. Consistency and honesty are our gods. 

There are 4,000+ catering establishments in Malta, as learned from ACE’s 2024 Report. That’s a lot and I can put out a big disclaimer right now; I will never try them all; and nor do I particularly want to at this stage. The first task of a reviewer is to understand the market and visualise the standards while creating a non-biased, but very logical trimming of the fat, kind of approach. 

I put my skills to practice as a reviewer to good use through The Definitive(ly) Good Guide – where Lisa and Denise trusted me based on nothing more than my passion. I was elated and I took it so seriously, right from the start. This is where my dreams started coming true. All those hours of absorbing information, fine tuning my writing, blind tasting games with Nina at home, spending our very few pennies on experimental ingredients from Asian food stores and trying out any new restaurant we could fit into our then lifestyle. I took notes, Nina took photos. 🙏

As the years went on and the portfolio expanded, my notes grew more detailed, my abilities to decipher flavour, technique, ingredient, pairings; grew more fine tuned and my craft of writing, that I've been nurturing professionally for 20 years now, became more distinctly me. My writing changes daily, and that's because I grow daily.

I’m not writing this to toot anyone’s horn, I’m saying this because it’s what it bloody takes. To surround yourself with greatness and deliver greatness for the restaurants that you feel constantly deliver greatness. Quite the scandal actually. 

Scandalous because comparing a skilled, taught, trained, experienced and invested creative person driven by passion, livelihood and devotion to the arts, to someone who creates in exchange for marketing is an entirely different ball park.

I take credit for and stand proudly behind my content, always hoping to inspire the truth. And the truth is, my words might move, but there's nothing more magical than a complimenting image to get the senses stirred. bajtra depends on Nina's eye; and unbiasedly I believe her role here is equally (if not more) valuable to the user. Nina’s photography, videography and capturing of moments, memories and experience grew more accurate, cinematic and fine tuned–there’s no way to deny Nina’s skills as a great attribute to my own success. It’s part and parcel, just like us, just like bajtra.

The arts were always meant to make you suffer, from suffering comes art and meaning. I believe that some Chefs are born artists, working for their craft. This is what the Art of Critiquing is, finding the balance between value to the art and value to the restaurant. My job is to inspire you to want to visit, to crave something so intensely it drives you insane, this is what The bajtra’s Directory of Restaurants does to me. It’s insatiable. 

The bajtra’s Art of Critiquing is not marketing. When I review a restaurant it’s an amicable process. I am here to understand, to experience, to document and to share my opinions. From the moment I initiate contact with a Chef, to their comments after we produce our part through content; it is all about the experience, the passion and the respect. 

The Art of Critiquing at bajtra is genuine, kind and a personal experience with every intention of celebrating culinary excellence in Malta and Gozo. It’s storytelling but with flavour.