clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

EaterHampton: Zagat-Hated Hamptons Get Local Support

New, 1 comment

And the outrage continues. Following the Times attempt to disprove Zagat's South-Fork hating raters, the Press has published an editorial furthering the fight. The anonymous industry insider starts by ribbing the paper's Robin Finn for dining while 'Mr. Sulzberger was picking up the tab' and then berates her choice of dinner guests. '...she also invited Dan Rattiner, who—as I can attest from having waited on him many times over the years—doesn’t know the first thing about food or the restaurant business.' Disgruntled waiter alert!

Onward, to the real issue at hand. The top 50 in the latest Zagat guide to Long Island Dining leaves out most of the East End's culinary heavy-hitters, prompting many to note flaws with the rating system. This writer's problems: a simplified rating system that gives every restaurant a too fair shot at a great rating, and the 'biased jury' that creates a 'pasta bowl of mediocrity that are Zagat-rated restaurants'.
Elsewhere in the rant: a perplexed reaction to the Top 10 ranking for the 'banquet hall' that is the Great Neck Peter Luger's. A tip of the hat to the North Forkers that made the top of the list, (no North v. South Fork fighting here). Suggestions for next year's Top 50: Della Femina, Oasis and 1770 House. And a roundup of this diner's Sulzberger-funded wish list: 'Yama Q, Beacon, Inn Spot on the Bay, Café Max and Wild Thyme'. Duly noted.
· Off the Menu: Zagat Misses the Mark [EH Press; SH Press]