jtobin625 wrote:The writer of this article is a hack. It's the new journalism. Make yourself a part of the story as opposed to reporting it.

I was about to agree with every fiber of my completely biased, old-school journalist soul, and say that this piece was riding the tricycle in a particularly egregious way. But then I clicked through to the story, and it appears that the author is not a regular NYT dining writer. He writes the "Your Money" column.

So he probably didn't go to the restaurant as a critic -- he's just taking advantage of the bully pulpit his job affords him to complain about a bad restaurant experience the way other disgruntled diners use Yelp.

I don't think any employer -- chef or otherwise -- is justified in berating their employees within earshot of customers. I think any customer who has a poor experience at a business has a right to complain. But the proper way to do it is not to storm uninvited into the kitchen or the back office or other nonpublic space. He should have asked to see the chef.