If you choose your wine based on how many medals or awards it has on the label then you don't want to know about Robin Goldstein. As part of a research paper on the wine industry, Goldstein submitted Osteria L'intrepido for a wine award in Wine Spectator at a cost of $250 for an entry fee. And at such a price you'd expect a prize.Trouble was that Goldstein had invented the restaurant and mocked up a nice fake menu into the bill.
The 'award' was given based on a few Google searches and a browse of Chowhound, a UGC restaurant site. On one level it's an outting of a lazy revenue raiser for a magazine (the NYT estimates they make over US$600,000 from entry fees) and an exposition of some shoddy research. It also deals another blow to credibility at a time when reviewers are becoming an endangered species with the rise of UGC. It's earned a place in the Museum of Hoaxes but I'm hoping it creates a greater value for good research.
The 'award' was given based on a few Google searches and a browse of Chowhound, a UGC restaurant site. On one level it's an outting of a lazy revenue raiser for a magazine (the NYT estimates they make over US$600,000 from entry fees) and an exposition of some shoddy research. It also deals another blow to credibility at a time when reviewers are becoming an endangered species with the rise of UGC. It's earned a place in the Museum of Hoaxes but I'm hoping it creates a greater value for good research.
Osteria L'Intrepido a fake? Man, I used to love that place!
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