Sometimes an Eater just needs to get something off his or her chest, so let us be your sounding board. Enter the Eater Complaints Dept. where you can vent, vent, vent and never be kicked off the boards. Got something to say? Hit us with it.
From: Alyson
Date: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
To: eater complaints dept.
Subject: Chowhound Censoring
______
Hey,
Was just looking through your site for new and fun restaurants you are reviewing....and came across Hiko Sushi and comments about it being banned from Chowhound. Only moments before I was on Chowhound and tried to log in and alas cannot. The Chowhound police have banned me from their site because I am in the food industry.
I've had several email conversations with them explaining why I would (dare!) mention the name of an owner, chef, caterer or winemaker I knew in a relevant blog conversation [thread], but alas, they have deemed me an evil interloper to their community. The fact that I am a publicist makes me the devil incarnate, I suppose. The Chowhounders, in a very Nazi-esqe manner, mind you, have said, "nine!" to MalibuAly. The thing I find particularly curious is that I was kicked off after posting on a thread about people who were in the food business. I wonder if the other hundred or so who contributed to that thread got the boot as well.
For someone like me whose work extends into the food business, because it's a huge part of my life, I was mostly saddened. I enjoyed that community very much. I feel like I was just kicked out of a club because I was giving too much. Or perhaps I am not considered housewife-ish enough to be part of their community? Maybe I need to cut out coupons from Women's Day and attempt to make the Easter Bunny Shaped Coconut Flake Cake on the cover of Women's World magazine be part of the club?? It sorta made me wonder: do I really live in the U.S. or is this a time warp from the days of Nikita Khrushchev's grand Soviet USSR?
Thanks for listening,
Alyson
