Food guides are not what they used to be

The gastronomic guides as we know them today are the result of a long process of transformation that is still ongoing to some extent. In their original form, they were essentially practical tools: organized lists of restaurants with a brief description, designed to help readers make informed choices. The most famous of all, the Michelin Guide, was born more than a hundred years ago with the goal of helping French motorists find places to eat and sleep during their travels. But already during the 20th century, and especially in recent decades, gastronomic guides and reviews have undergone an evolution that has profoundly changed their language and purpose. Today, the reviews of the best food critics do not merely describe what was eaten and how good it was. «It doesn’t matter whether I like it or not; what matters is whether it aligns with what we want to communicate with that editorial product,» explained food journalist Eugenio Signoroni, who curates the Slow Food guides, in the podcast Juice It Up. «Guides represent a historical moment,» added the show’s host, culinary expert Gianluca Bitelli. If you think about it, in an effort to remain relevant in a context where food storytelling mostly happens through social media, gastronomic guides today seem more focused on explaining, through recommendations and reviews, how conviviality and restaurant culture are changing. In this sense, every editorial choice – whether to talk about a particular venue or to highlight a lesser-known cuisine – is, in a way, also a stance, destined to influence how we interpret gastronomy.

It’s no surprise, then, that more and more gastronomic guides are conceived as literary narratives, capable of providing users not only with the profile of the recommended restaurants but also the cultural, social, and emotional context in which those places exist. The evolution has turned food criticism into not just (or not only) a consumption guide, but a form of storytelling that intertwines with cultural information and, in some cases, entertainment. A significant turning point came in the 1990s, when some American food critics began to adopt a more personal and less technical tone. Among them, Gael Greene and Ruth Reichl of New York Magazine stood out for their more narrative and engaging style, able to go beyond the mere description of dishes. Their reviews were structured as short stories: they explored the atmosphere of the place, the service experience, and often included personal reflections or anecdotes that made the text more lively. Food thus became a pretext to talk about culture, society, and even politics.

This shift in approach is not just a matter of style, but also reflects an awareness of the power that a critic from a major publication can have. Even if readers often don’t realize it, some food journalists can genuinely influence the fate of a restaurant, attracting or deterring new customers, supporting a newly launched project or putting it at risk. Craig Claiborne, who in 1962 became the first New York Times journalist to regularly review the city’s restaurants, understood the weight and responsibility of this job. In his autobiography, he admitted to hating the power his position gave him: it was not easy to live with the knowledge that one of his reviews could change a restaurateur’s life. This is also why the current New York Times food critic, Pete Wells, has long maintained a fairly moderate approach. Negative reviews, he explained, are not appreciated by either readers or restaurant owners: for this reason, he often prefers not to write about a restaurant that didn’t convince him. His goal, essentially, is to highlight only those places that he believes will truly excite customers.

The landscape of food reviews has clearly undergone a radical transformation with the rise of social media. While in the past the opinions of a few experts guided the choices of a relatively large audience, today there are many players – restaurant owners, content creators, enthusiasts, regular customers, and so on – who help shape a restaurant’s reputation. The case of the bakery Signor Lievito, opened in 2022 in Milan's Porta Romana area, is quite representative of this mechanism. Originally a quiet neighborhood spot with a refined offering, it is now one of the most sought-after breakfast destinations in the city, after becoming viral on TikTok thanks to the visibility given by some content creators. But sudden popularity can also become a burden. That’s precisely why some influencers – aware of these dynamics – have begun to reflect on their role, adopting more discreet strategies to highlight places they find worthy. In the case of very small restaurants, for example, reels – more likely to gain a lot of views – are often avoided in favor of “softer” formats like carousels, aiming not to overexpose businesses that may not be seeking attention or aren’t fully prepared to handle it.