Until late yesterday things have been going very well for the new magazine. Everybody who has read it says they really enjoyed it and the director of Avignon airport called to say he was interested in giving it to all passengers. Feedback from advertisers was also good and I was feeling fairly self congratulatory.
Then at a cafe we encountered a PR man for some of the local restaurants. He took me aside and said that he hadn't really appreciated Blue Sky Living issue 2. He found the writing superficial and in the food and wine section we didn't respect the grand tradition of French cuisine. The magazine in general had a very anglo-saxon view.
Fair criticism I thought - after all I am English - and so I explained that in England restaurant criticism is as much about the story the critic tells, as the restaurant itself. References to food are habitually left to the last paragraph of thousand word articles.
The conversation continued and moved on to a small newspiece at the front of the magazine, where I'd noted that a local restaurant recieved a Michelin Star. The chef I was told wanted to keep his restaurant the same and was not interested in Michelin. If I was up to date with the local restaurant scene I should have known this.
We politely said our goodbyes, but afterwards I was really angry, hence this rant. BSL has always tried to be inclusive. It's written by Brits but we spend a lot of money translating the text into French. We also try as much as possible to help local businesses. Yet to the PR man mentioning a Michelin star was like libel.
Surely all publicity is good publicity and while it might be trendy to disparage Michelin, getting a star is good news. What's more I am sure the chef doesn't share the PR man's views.
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