They just insulted Bauer and made him mad. He is not going to change things. He can wear glasses and fake mustache to do his job. You may want to consider that a great deal of the anonymity has to do with the unhappy restaurant people pestering the critic during his/her daily life. The fewer people can spot the person the fairer it is to the critic as a private citizen. It is not just for the sake of food review but a question of personal freedom and even safety. San Francisco is a big city and a good percentage of the "restaurant staff" FOH and BOH are some of the NOT finest citizens this city has. I think that said is enough to make my point. But do also remember the City Hall regime loves to see SF Chronicle disappear and weakening the established demigods goes a long way in that direction. As a critic Bauer does a great job and if anyone is to question his tenure only a qualified body of his peer critics should discuss such standards for their profession not the food column readers. American public in general dislikes and even despises anyone in a position of authority that can have power over them: the government, the policeman, the priest, the parent, the teacher, and the food critic. Not every topic is open to public discussion.
A couple of weeks ago, the Chicago-based Menu Pages blog posted an article entitled “Why Does Everyone Hate John Mariani?” It all started whenEsquire critic—and author of the influential “Best New Restaurants” list—was in Chicago doing his rounds, which provoked some irate tweets from the likes of the chef de cuisine of Alinea about Mariani’s unethical ways—predominately about his decided lack of anonymity. Let’s just say the word “douchebaggery” was slung. (Why do bloggers and tweeters insist on using variations on this word?)
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