Everyone's a Critic..

So, we're enjoying a late dinner last evening at Lolita, and relishing every morsel. Taking advantage of the happy hour deals after 9:30, we perched ourselves at bar stools just far enough from the draft of the front door and tucked into the goat cheese and chicken macaroni and the bacon, egg, onion and cheese-burger. Quietly congratulating ourselves for our dinner choices, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the woman seated next to me was sending back an order of mussels. Odd, I thought. If you like mussels, wouldn't these probably fit the bill?

A little later on, she spied us finishing up our mac & cheese, and ordered herself a plate. This too was sent back, barely touched. By now, my curiosity was piqued, as was my rancor, as I have somewhat of an 'attachment' to the place and couldn't understand what the deal was with this wine swilling harlot. When, a moment later, she turned to me, and with a look of disgust on her face told me, "I can't believe you just ate that", I was momentarily stunned. Was this petulant creature actually disdaining of my choice of meals, and moreso, my enjoyment of it?!?

Ever the kindhearted soul, I asked what the hell she was talking about, and revealed that She, with proper affectation, was a food critic for Food & Wine magazine, and the menu was appalling. I replied that I've never heard anyone not enjoy the dish, and that personally, I love it. But hey, I'm no food critic. She proceeded to play the critic card and disembowel the restaurant, the staff, the cooks, the wine, and the owner in general. I was disappointed, but skeptical, as she had been putting down glasses of wine like a whino with Thunderbird since we arrived, and was starting to slur.

So, no real clincher for this story, just a bit of anticipation to see whether in the coming months an absolute hot coal raking is laid on Lolita by Food & Wine, or whether this was just some crazy, smashed weirdo looking for some attention. Either way, WTF?