?People come in with iPhones, and it might have seemed strange at first, but now were used to it, Mr. Catlett said. ?Ive seen pictures of our food and of the waiters on the Internet and on Facebook.
As he and other restaurateurs have found, the era of food bloggers ? who routinely photograph a restaurants entrees, staff and décor ? is upon us. And they seem to be especially active in New Jersey.
?Ive been in the restaurant business my whole life in New York City, and in New York City restaurant bloggers dont exist on the level they do in New Jersey, said Michael Liristis, 34, the former manager and sommelier at Thalassa Restaurant in TriBeCa and at Kellari Taverna in Midtown. He is now a partner in and general manager of Nisi Estiatorio in Englewood, which opened in January 2009.
?Here, bloggers are extremely well versed in the industry, Mr. Liristis said. ?Theyre very well educated.
They are also plentiful.
?Blogging is huge here. It really is, said Mr. Catlett, 44, who not only reads blog posts about his restaurant, which opened in September, but also sometimes offers reparations, in the form of gift certificates, when he sees entries about less-than-satisfactory meals.
Food and restaurant blogs based in New Jersey run the gamut from the professional, like the popular Table Hopping With Rosie blog at njmonthly.com and Second Helpings, an offshoot of the newspaper The Record of Bergen County,to the admittedly experimental.
?We just wanted to make a Web site that was fun and young and geared toward people like us, who love food, said Alexandra Harcharek, 21, of Princeton, co-founder of A Food Coma with Brandon Werner, 25, of Dumont.The site, begun in 2008, specializes in recipes and restaurant reviews for area college studentson a budget; Ms. Harcharek is a journalism studentat Rowan University in Glassboro.
?What surprised me is how many people are reading. Its actually a bit freaky, Ms. Harcharek said. ?I love the feedback, the responses. And I also like the fact that something seems to be going on here, and Im a part of it.
One of the early New Jersey food bloggers was Jason Perlow, 40, of Tenafly, who has also written articles on food for The New York Times. Mr. Perlow started his Off the Broiler blog in 2006 after being a co-founder of the food forum eGullet in 2001. (EGullet is now a not-for-profit site run by Mr. Perlows former business partner, Steven A. Shaw.)
He wanted to blog ?in a more detailed way, Mr. Perlow said, adding, ?I wanted to be able to duplicate my dining experience for the reader, with a lot of photography.
Mr. Perlow, who works full time in systems technology, does not consider himself a professional food critic. Neither does Mark Jahnke, 35, of Bordentown, who started the local wine and food blog F. Scott and Zelda with his wife, Pam Wardle, 31, in 2007. Mr. Jahnke is in the Air Force, and Ms. Wardle works in international business development.
?A lot of our friends are foodies, and we just wanted to let people know what we had tried over the weekend and whether it was good, Mr. Jahnke said.
Even so, Mr. Jahnke and bloggers like Deborah Smithof Point Pleasant, the owner and editor of Jersey Bites, frequently hear from restaurant owners or their publicists.
?I get a lot of invitations from restaurants that have P.R. agencies, said Ms. Smith, 44, who is also president of the company Parents With Nannies.
Ms. Smiths blogcontains reviews, recipes and food-related interviews; she is in the process of taking it hyperlocal by bringing in partners, so that those who log on in distant counties like Hunterdon and Mercer can get food news from their areas.
Dining bloggers acknowledge that their reviews may be tarnished by a perception that they are not above writing a four-star review in return for a free meal. But that perception often is wrong, they say.
?I dont want people to think, ?Oh, theres another blogger whos getting freebies, said Lisa Howard-Fusco, 39, of Forked River, who runs the blog John and Lisa Are Eating in South Jersey with her husband, John Howard-Fusco, 40. It was established in 2008 as a way of ?letting the world know that there is a food scene in this area, she said.
?We wont take comped meals, because I want to be honest about what Im writing, Ms. Howard-Fusco said. She is a freelance writer; her husband was recently laid off from his job as a financial planner.
Many bloggers ? including all those contacted for this article ? say they have similar standards. Which does not mean that they will casually pan a restaurant for neglecting to refill a water glass, or for running out of the osso buco special.
?Im not out there to bash a restaurant. Usually Im trying to promote it, said Robin Shreeves, 42, a freelance writer who runs the blog South Jersey Locavore from her home in Barrington. ?I want to help people find the kind of food Im looking for myself.
¢
Sounding Boards
Some blogs about the New Jersey food and restaurant scene:
A Food Coma: afoodcoma.com
F. Scott & Zelda: jerseyfoodies.blogspot.com/2010/01/princeton-present-day-club-f-scott-and.html
Jersey Bites: jerseybites.com
John and Lisa Are Eating in South Jersey: johnandlisaareeatinginsj.blogspot.com
Off the Broiler: offthebroiler.wordpress.com
South Jersey Locavore: southjerseylocavore.com
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