Bad restaurant critic

cartoon restaurant critic judges produce at grocery store

Food critics who start at the bottom

I’m not sure whether everyone understood this cartoon when it came out, but no matter. I enjoy it tremendously, myself! Once a critic, always a critic. You can’t stop. I review cartoonists, desserts, movies, books…it’s a lifestyle!

How I got a job interview over lunch

I’ve been fortunate enough to get to go out to eat with a couple of restaurant critics, including S. Irene Virbila of the LA Times, and they were some exciting experiences. One was my “interview” for the LA Times, to do my restaurant cartoon feature next to her actual written reviews. (I got it!) And we met at a fancy Sunset Strip place for lunch.

Ms Virbila ordered like 12 dishes for the 2 of us…the plates just kept coming! I whispered to her, ” What do you think they think about us?” She replied, “They just think we’re ladies who lunch!”

I got to take home most of the leftovers, so win, win. 🙂 But I realized even, or maybe especially, at a luxurious spot like that (which I would never be able to afford usually) a critic has to be honest. She gave it a B-, as I recall.

This is from my weekly cartoon feature, Daily Special. Here’s how to get new restaurant cartoons delivered to you each week! And how to buy restaurant and food cartoons for restaurant newsletters, websites, hospitality magazines, and restaurant trade journals.

ID #1702387        Caption: (woman in grocery store is a food critic, but has lost her way, and reviews the produce!) Caption: WHEN RESTAURANT CRITICS SHOP. Atmosphere – 0! Service – 0! Food – Uncooked!

Donna Barstow

Donna Barstow

Syndicated cartoonist in the New Yorker, LA Times, Harvard Business Review, Slate, textbooks, papers. Columnist for 10 years in Psychology Today. Set painter in studio Art Depts. Member Scriptwriters Network, script analyst. Author, 2 hardcopy books, Barnes & Noble Calendar.