Rossouw’s Restaurants is South Africa’s only restaurant guide (Eat Out may have more glitz and glamour, but it does not come close to this ‘Platter’ equivalent to restaurants), and its owner JP Rossouw has established himself as a credible source of restaurant information, despite one not actually knowing what credentials Rossouw has to be a restaurant critic. That credibility has now been questioned, with readers of his largely negative review of the new La Mouette restaurant in Sea Point grilling (pardon the pun!) Rossouw on his use of other reviewers, yet marking them with his initials, as if he had written the review himself.
Whilst knowledgeable about wines, and earning a living from them, in that he often wrote about wine in the Cape Times, is said to compile restaurant winelists, and consults to restaurants about wines, Rossouw commendably has been focused on only writing about restaurants in his blog (even though he does not know the difference between a blog, a blog post and a website) and in his annually updated Rossouws’ Restaurants hard copy guide. Confusingly the book may contain some reviews that his blog does not, and vice versa.
On Friday, after publishing his very critical review of La Mouette, the first critical commenter “Eric” lashed out at Rossouw for his review: “Phew JP, you were mean! This review is so out of character for you – long, nitpicking, nasty, disparaging. You must have been having a bad day before you went for lunch to La Mouette. I hope you go back to get with the programme”. This was followed by a further critical comment by “Cormac” (someone using the name of Portofino Cormac Keane, or the man himself?) “I am also quite surprised reading your review, it is unduly harsh for a restaurant that has been open for two weeks. I have eaten there twice and found the food to be very good, and I am not easily pleased”.
Rossouw’s loyal fans “Bazil” – could he be a Rossouw reviewer, the same Bazil that is a ‘Food Fanatic’ on Eat Out’s restaurant review panel, who lists La Mouette as one of the restaurants that he has reviewed, and who wrote in his 2 May Eat Out “review” that he had been to the “new and officially not open” La Mouette? – (and likens Rossouw to AA Gill, the “revered and feared London food critic”!) and “Michael” quickly jumped to Rossouws’ defence, and a spat developed, which led to the closing of the Comments section of the restaurant review, an unprecedented move. Rossouw later explained that he felt that comments had become personal between commenters, and removed the offensive comments. When this writer had exposed Carne in not being truthful about its “organic meat” and Karoo origin claims, Rossouw allowed commenters to attack the comment writer without censorship. This was picked up by one of the commenters and questioned.
Impatiently wanting to get her point of view across, and reacting to Rossouw’s comment censorship, “Sisteranna” used another restaurant’s comment box to give Rossouw a most articulate piece of her mind, questioning:
1. Rossouw’s censorship and deletion of comments
2. The cowardice of commenters in using pseudonyms
3. Writing restaurant reviews after one visit only
4. The credibility of reviews published with Rossouw’s initials JPR but not written by himself :”I am afraid thie (sic) entire state of affairs has cast serious doubt in my mind as to the integrity and veracity of any reviews published here”.
Every time she wrote a comment, Rossouw wrote back, and he clearly started tripping over his words, in that he had to admit that he had sent another reviewer to review the restaurant. Here things become a little hazy, especially as Rossouw had removed a response by him, in which he had admitted to “Cormac” that he himself had not been to the restaurant, but that his reviewer had written the review. He added that what was posted was far less harsh than how the reviewer had written it, implying that he had edited it to tone it down (one questions why the ‘truth’ should not have prevailed, given that it was a pretty harsh review anyway).
When he was challenged about not writing all reviews himself by the commenters and on Twitter, he changed his tune, and implied (in a fudgy sort of way), that he had first sent a reviewer, and then had gone to the restaurant himself to review it. However, observing this as a regular Rossouw’s Restaurants blog reader, it is quite out of character for Rossouw to review a restaurant within 2 weeks of it opening. In the past Rossouw has been surprisingly slow on restaurant opening and closure news, and reviews of new restaurants. Many reviewers will give a new restaurant some time to settle in before they attempt a first review, and one saw Rossouw’s time delay in the past to be for this reason.
Then he tripped himself up by stating that his reviewer had been to the restaurant for dinner, yet he quoted lunch prices (La Mouette has different prices for its dishes for lunch and dinner). Had Rossouw been at the restaurant himself, he would have known about the price difference. Rossouw claims his reviews are independent, paid for and unannounced, which is how it should be, but he his well known to established restaurateurs. Restaurants would pull out all the stops were they to see him arrive. One wonders how he deals with the “independence” issue if he is paid by restaurants to consult to them about their wines.
Rossouw further claimed that he had written the review himself. However, it was unusually long, and very critical, especially about the wine prices, and this again is out of character with Rossouw’s “Mr Nice Guy” image, according to “Eric”. Rossouw normally only writes three paragraphs or so, and often one has been frustrated that he has not been critical enough, but he clearly does not want to offend restaurants (generally). Rossouw replied to “Sisteranna”: “Where I do use a team is for the reviews that appear in the printed guide. …. the blog and the book are separate but are linked”. Does this mean that Rossouw will publish the review in his 2011 printed guide? He continued: “All blog reviews on this website are written by me and only after a meal which I pay for”, contradicting himself again.
One of the commenters has told me that his comment was edited by Rossouw before being posted, to make himself look good and the commenter look apologetic, which was not what he had intended.
Many of the 33 comments to date (as at 10h00 this morning) are the diatribe between Rossouw and the tenacious “Sisteranna”, who, when challenged, revealed her identity as Sonia Cabano. A Google search identified her as a chef (who trained in London, at Kensington Place amongst others, where La Mouette chef Henry Vigar was the head chef until a few months ago), cookery book writer (KOMBUIS) and as having presented cooking programmes on kykNET and SABC3, a lady who clearly knows what she is talking about. She is persistent in her questioning of Rossouw’s inconsistencies in his comments, and subsequent responses.
In having created a stimulating debate and raised a few laughs, the La Mouette review and the comments received have raised important ethical and procedural issues about restaurant reviews.
Rossouw’s review and all the comments can be read here. Read our review of La Mouette here.
POSTSCRIPT: JP Rossouw has written a very calm and reasoned response to this post on his website.
POSTSCRIPT 8 JUNE: In response to a request by JP Rossouw to “correct” my blog post, I replied to him on Friday 4 June, and asked him to meet with me, to tell me the whole story and to show me the two La Mouette invoices for the meal for himself and for his reviewer, to prove that both of them ate at the restaurant. He has not replied to this invitation to date. We also note that Rossouw has edited some of his comments on his website relating to this issue, to emphasise that he and another reviewer went to the restaurant on separate occasions, telling a different story to the way he originally told it via his responses to comments to his blog post.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
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I couldn’t be bothered reading this whole post, it’s too long, boring and badly written, but I can say that one thing JP Rossouw has over most reviewers & bloggers is his ability to actually write well!
Can someone please tell me what qualifies JP Rossouw to write about restaurants, what makes him such an “expert” has he ever been a chef or ever run a restaurant, what are his qualifications ?
I know he has been on the payroll at at least one restaurant in Cape Town as a “wine consultant” where he spoke at wine evenings. I did not see a disclaimer in the guide next to the glowing review for this particular restaurant. This is outrageous and strips him of any credibility if indeed he ever had any. In my mind he is a gormless hack.
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I wonder if La Mouette’s mistake was not including one of JP’s wife’s wines on the list (her family makes wine) I am sure he gives better reviews to the restaurants that sell the family wines.
His book is a complete waste of time and money, if I want to know about a restaurant I will look at your blog if you have written about the restaurant I am interested or look at Food24.
Sorry, but as far as I am concerned, what you write is not accurate. I did not “quickly jump to Rossouws’ defenceâ€. He wrote his review and I was the first to respond with a statement of my experience at La Mouette, where I agreed with him about the chocolate tart (as did “cormac†the following day) and the limited wines under R200. I did however ‘defend’ some rather nasty comments (subsequently deleted) about Bazil, which had nothing to do with La Mouette.
I really don’t understand why people are having a problem here.
Fact: Rossouw publishes an annual guide to restaurants. As he states in the Guide all restaurants are visited by members of an editorial team (i.e. not by just himself). Establishments are awarded none, 1,2 or 3 stars to reflect the dining experience. Each entry carries a short description of the establishment or if you like ‘review’, but without actually much of a critique.
Fact: Rossouw also has a web page/blog were members of the public can leave comments. As he clearly states all the ‘reviews’ that appear on this site and signed JPR are written by himself after a (paid and unannounced) visit to the restaurant.
Anyone familiar with the Guide and the website will appreciate that not all restaurants appearing on one will necessarily be included in the other. The website of course has the advantage of being more ‘current’ and in my experience more detailed in its discussion of a particular restaurant visit. In some ways it is no different to reviews given by yourself or Clare or Jamie or all the other foodie bloggers – most of whom have in my opinion written far more scathing reviews of local establishments (e.g. Blonde, Maze, Spin – two of which are also new!).
I think GRG’s post today has said what I feel more eloquently than I can, so I quote it here (assuming I am allowed to!):
“What struck me from the exchanges were the different expectations readers have of a food reviewer. I expect a credible reviewer firstly to have a sound understanding of food. Far too often views are expressed that are simply not based on subject matter expertise. Regrettably most SA food blogs and food guides fall into this category. Secondly, the review should be objective, interesting and “tell it as it isâ€. Although the objective should never be to destroy a restaurant the reviewer cannot be expected to “promote the industry†by being lenient. In this regard credible food crits like JPR play an important role in that his rating system is in my view the only objective system against which we as consumers can measure offerings. It also provides benchmarks to restaurants.
I must say that I was surprised by the emotive reaction to JPR’s comments. Having read most of his blogs over the past 2 years my impression was that although the food was not “memorable†he certainly seemed curious as to what future direstion the food will take. What I would have expected of those who disagreed would have been to relay their experience of the food, service, ambiance etc. It was disappointing that the exchanges from both sides were emotional, offensive and quite boring to the rest of us. What I am sure most food lovers want is vigorous debate about our experiences at restaurants. Let us have more of that!”
Hi The Foodie
Maybe if Chris wrote about burgers then it might be a little more interesting what do you think 🙂
“He writes well” The Foodie cry’s, good to see that JP has his little band of fans ready to go out and bat for him. I still want to know what qualifies him to such an expert on all things food. Somebody, anybody ? Again, where is his “independence” when he is getting paid by the restaurants he reviews for “wine evenings” JPR you have a serious lack of credibility in my eyes.
Just a factual correction, Angela – JPR hasn’t done any wine-writing (besides the re-edit of the wine book) for at least 6 months, and hasn’t hosted a wine evening for longer than that.
What a debate this has generated!
The Foodie, you reacted almost immediately when the post was published,and rather rudely – what would have made you so angry about the story, given that it was a report on something factual that happened on Rossouw’s Restaurants’ website? Interesting that you could comment on the quality of my writing (or lack of, according to you), if you did not read the post, as per your comment? Are you a Rossouw’s Restaurants’ reviewer too?
Jacques, you have defended JP on both his website and on this blog, as if you are JP’s spokesperson. What is the relationship between you and JP. Are you a Rossouw’s Restaurants’ reviewer too?
@Chris: No, I haven’t defended JP, but rather simply pointed out factual inaccuracies, first in response to SusterAnna, and now to Angela.
What is the relationship between the value of these corrections and my identity? It’s disappointing that your first response is to play the man, not the ball. I am related to JP, but as I point out above, that has no bearing on my comments.
Jacques, please tell us which restaurants he JP was on the payroll at for “wine evenings” its only fair to the other restaurants in town that don’t pay JP. People can then judge for themselves. I agree with the comments about The Foodie, his rash comments make him look stupid, no suprise when you look at his blog (if it is indeed his)
Angela, I’m nobody’s spokesperson but my own. As I said, I was merely pointing out a factual inaccuracy.
Jacques
JP has a brother called Jacques, who is one of his restaurant reviewers. Are you that person? Do explain how you could be related if your Rossouw/Rousseau’s are spelt differently? Transparency is good for us all.
@Chris: how would you think you know who is and who is not a reviewer? I’d imagine that anonymity would be a desirable part of the review process, so if you’re getting information (or misinformation) about identities, you could perform a public good by pointing out who your sources are. Transparency is indeed often good for us all, except in cases where anonymity serves a larger purpose.
One of the Rossouw’s blog entries (on Portofino) has my name as byline. As JPR has pointed out, the blog is distinct from the reviews in the guide.
So on your definitions, I wouldn’t say I’m “that person”. I am, however, his brother. I would suggest that unless people have evidence of who is a reviewer, and who is on who’s payroll, they remove comments and edit posts that make such allegations.
Jacques
I like that your name was on the byline for a review, which means that it is transparent. Given that you are JP’s spokesperson, can you ask him why he does not add a byline of the reviewer to all the reviews of restaurants that he has not been to himself? The review as such would still be trusted. Eat Out does this successfully with its “Food Fanatics”.
Chris, you’re perpetuating a misunderstanding that occurred in the comments to the La Mouette review (also in your post, above).
What you’re asking for is exactly what JPR does: All blog posts are tagged by name, and if it is his name, it is he who wrote it – as he has repeatedly explained.
As I’ve pointed out (also repeatedly), I’m nobody’s spokesperson, so what you call “given” is far from being so.
Can Jacques or JP please address the key issue here. Please name the restaurants that JP takes money from for wine evenings. It is completely unethical to take money like this and even worse not to name the restaurants when you have been caught out. JP your silence is deafening. Your credibility is shredded.
Jacques
1. I am not perpetuating anything. JP clearly wrote that another person had done the review, and then he changed his tune by saying that he had also been to La Mouette. It’s a shame that he deleted his own comment when he deleted the disparaging ones. A number of us did read that comment, which is what created all the confusion
2. I am utterly confused by the surname story. So is “Rossouw” a pseudonym for JP, to hide his real surname Rousseau? To complete the family picture (I know we are getting off the track here, but it will help explain the blasts in the past), is Dr Signe Rousseau your wife, sister, or JP’s wife?
I fail to see how clarifying someone else’s family tree on your blog is anything but intrusive, and serves no purpose in this discussion. If it turns out that I am a wife/sister/cousin/nanny to any of the R brothers, how will that explain “blasts in the past”? (assuming these refer to some of my own previous comments on yours and others’ blogs? Or perhaps to my own post about food bloggers in Cape Town?). Because we share some general opinions? How do you explain that I also agree with most of what Michael has to say, or Jamie Who?
I detect you hatching some family conspiracy theory here, and a frankly sinister desire to discredit one or all of us. That this is offensive to the extreme should hardly need saying.
Re your point 1 above. Chris, you still seem not to grasp the realities of the situation, which seem so obvious to me. JP went for lunch to La Mouette and wrote about it on his webpage. On some other occasion (before or after his visit) one of his ‘inspectors/editorial team’ obviously went for dinner. Correctly, no mention was made of this dinner visit in JP’s write-up. Mention of it only arose when others were critical of JP’s adverse comments on his lunch visit. AS far as I can remember at no time did JP say that someone else had written the review that appeared on the website.
what is going on here ? i can scarcely believe what i am reading, are you telling me that the writer of the food guide was in receipt of monies from a restaurant that he reviewed ? and that this was not disclosed ? it does not matter what the fee was dressed up as wine evening, etc, etc. if you are a restaurant reviewer and you take money from a restaurant you are finished. it is a scandal.
@The Foodie: this blogpost is neither ‘boring’ nor ‘badly written’. I found it interesting and lively, which is a lot more than I can say for the original La Mouette review.
There appears ro be rather more to this than meets the eye…Why two brothers would spell their surnames differently seems highly peculiar. I also notice that Jacques Rousseau has yet to answer any questions put to him. the answers seem farily innocuous, so what is he trying to hide?
Michael
I do grasp the “realities” very well, and that is why I wrote the story. You obviously did not see the admission by JP that someone else had written the La Mouette review. As I have written above, he deleted it with the disparaging ones overnight, when he blocked the Comments. He has nothing to hide, so he did not have to delete that one, or does he?
WHAT RESTAURANTS DID ROUSSEAU/ROSSOUW GET MONEY FROM ??
Signe
For an academic that was a rather nasty Tweet from you this morning, but thanks for providing the link to this post. Thanks too for clarifying that you are a relative. Time will tell how you are related to the Rossouw/Rousseau brothers, and who is using the pseudonym. I suspect the former.
I have one simple question for Mr JP Rossouw, have you ever received payment from a restaurant in South Africa, yes or no ? I do not care what the payment was for.
If you have received payments which your brother appears to have admitted above please name the restaurants, I for one would like to go back to your guide and see what you wrote about the restaurants you have a financial relationship with even if it is a historical transaction.
Michael
Thanks for reminding me about one point in JP’s very well-written post about reviewing restaurants yesterday. He used the word “inspectors” as did you. “Reviewers” going to restaurants for him is one thing, but to inspect restaurants by JP’s “inspectors” is shocking, and disrespectful to restaurateurs, in my opinion. It reminds of the good old days with Portfolio, when they came for “inspections” annually before we could pay them thousands of Rands for advertising in their B&B Guide. JP clearly has not been unaffected by his near-family relationship with the Westby-Nunns.
Given those “inspections”, one has rarely seen anything harsh written by JP until he/an “inspector” wrote about La Mouette.
Well done Chris exposing this underhand behaviour, first Carne and their dodgy meat, now Rossouws disingenuous behaviour. I also want to know what restaurants he consulted for. Answers please JPR.
I think you should seriously consider writing a a food guide Chris.
HA HA HA!!!
Let’s see what we have here: a quick google reveals a Signe Rousseau,Jacques Rossouw and Jean-Pierre Rossouw, all three ardent bloggers and all three somehow related in ways they bizarrely refuse to disclose. Reasons for this may become clearer when it transpires that the former two have an appetite for attacking critics of the latter Rossouw on his own blog or other bloggers’. Dr Signe, who according to her blog is completing a thesis on Food Media (wot dat?) And celebrity chefs is not averse to threatening ‘bitch slaps’ to twtterers who have earned her learned scorn. (One can only conclude that all those hourse of studying the habits of Chefs Ramsy et all must have rubbed of on her tender academic psyche somewhere…) Le tout clan Rousseau seem to react as if caught in flagrante at the indignity of having their family tree (sic) scrutinized. As if one might find mushrooms and fairies decamped there, who knows? Of course all this serves to to is pique the interest of any half-warm corpse looking for a ripping good yarnm .All in all, it smacks a little of the schoolyard and makes me gtrateful once again that I seldom read blogs and food blogs never. Not that it wouldn’t make a bloody good story if written down, though. Thanks for a few moments of absolute hilarity.
Cooky
Just to correct you – the R&R&R family trio are JP Rossouw (so we are told), Jacques Rousseau (brother of JP but with a different spelling of his R), and Dr Signe Rousseau (sister of the two brothers, or a wife of one of them?)
Signe is not a sister, but must be the wife of one of the two brothers: “Danish by birth but a long-term resident of southern Africa, Signe Rousseau (née Hansen) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Film & Media Studies. Following postgraduate work on French New Wave cinema and Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle, her doctoral thesis, “From Chef to Superstar: Food Media from World War II to the World Wide Webâ€, focussed on the rise of Food Media and the cult of the celebrity chef from the post-war period to the present. Her broader research interests include cultural studies and theory, and the politics of production and consumption” – from a UCT website
Great, the whole family are as dull as each other.
Jean
I wouldn’t call any of them dull. Odd, maybe, but never dull. Dr R is really rather interesting! An academic hellbent on researching and documenting Food Media (don’t forget the capital letters, I still haven’t found a wikipedia entry for this) and celebrity chefs who not only twitters enthusiastically with some rather snippy asides, but who resents having her family tree (sic) being scrutinized.
I am just beginning to wonder how many magic mushrooms grow underneath that family tree.
An why the branches of this family tree (sic) seem so intent on not being seen in the same orchard?
A Google search has identified that both Dr Signe Rousseau and Jacques Rousseau are lecturers at UCT. JP Rossouw is married to Ariane Beaumont from Beaumont Wines in Botriver, who does not use her married name. By deduction, Dr S and Jacques are husband and wife. The surname difference between the brothers Jacques and JP remains a mystery.
Look I come from a long and distinguished line of cooks, crooks, kooky and frankly buckled and bent people but this takes the biscuit.
So: two internet-addicted brainiacs spend their time defending Big Boet. And harrassing his critics. Or all and sundry, but in most cerebral fashion. Of course.
Cooky Weird Scale Score 10. Zwoeeing!
Said internet-addicted brainiacs (She tweets! He blogs! They surf the internet! A very model of a modern media marriage made in cyber heaven!) make a freaky internet coupling by double-barraging perceived adversaries…I throw up a little in my mouth if I think that they might play Playstation together… Please Ironman say it isn’t sooo.
Cooky Weird Scale Score Wild 999
Someone in the family makes wine. Another one markets it. They all blog together but separately on the interweb and if they don’t like what you write they make you hurt by tweeting you until you cry, OK?
Cooky Weird Scale
Score OK Let’s Just Call Freud.
They don’t know how to spell their own surname. Or they don’t want to tell why they don’t want to. Most people love to exhibit family connections. They find it intrusive.
Never mind Cooky Weird Scale.
Way Off the charts.
Me no find dem dull adall.
This is internet soap opera!
More, please!
Dear “friend” Signe (I like that you call me that)!
A kind fellow food blogger referred me to your piercingly critical “review” of blogging food reviewers, in which you shoot down my friends Dax Relax-with-Dax and Clare from Spill, and myself, as lightweight, non-qualified food writers, and praise your brother-in-law (family connection unidentified)JP as the writer of the “only independent restaurant guide”.(Shame, and there Dax was, defending the honour of JP yesterday.
You bring attention to my Overture review, in which I stated upfront, as is the correct procedure, that I had been invited by Bertus, and in school-like fashion, this is marked by you with the teacher’s pen, as if this should be a weakness. Let me assure you that I categorically do not look for free meals, nor any advertising, as my editorial independence is by far more important than earning money from my blog. It should be apparant to you that I love writing, and that I am not afraid to state my critical opinion, if required, whether paid for or not. One such review of a free meal is due to come up soon.
But not able to stop there, you climb into the new Food & Wine Bloggers Club, calling it a “coalition” and write: “I really can’t imagine how they will fit all those egos into one room”. You may be an expert blogger Signe, but there are many bloggers who want to learn more, and from each other, and that is why we started the Food & Wine Bloggers’ Club. We invite you to attend one of our meetings, to understand that your criticism of food bloggers has been most unkind and unfair. Those that attended the first meeting on 19 May were very kind in their compliments.
Read Signe’s blogpost: http://signwithane.com/humble-opinion/
Having read the link http://signwithane.com/humble-opinion/
I can only conclude the writer was under the influence. God speed that it was of vintage extraction.
Now there is really classy lady for you. Signe rates a restaurant highly if she can smoke in comfort, somewhere she can indulge in possibly the most obnoxious, disgusting, rancid and selfish behavior you can undertake in a restaurant. Even when these social lepers are corralled in some outside pen their secondhand
carcinogenic cloud always seems to permeate the air in the remaining non smoking area. The sooner the new anti smoking laws are enforced and Signe and her ilk are banished to the pavement area the better. Word of warning to Cape Town restaurant owners, kick the smokers to touch before the city get around to dishing out fines and stop alienating the non smoking population by allowing these selfish morons destroy an evening out with their second hand smoke. Statistically the smokers are very much in the minority so its a business no brainer. On a final note, please JPR assure us that Signe is not a reviewer for your guide, it might be cool for you for her to be defending the family and all that jazz but unless your start reviewing sheebeens I’d leave her at home smoking.
JP(Rossouw)’s brother Jacques is interested in Philosophy, and he legally changed his surname to the French spelling of “Rousseau”, in honour of his hero Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher, writer and composer, I have been told.
In her Blog, Signe Rousseau, Jacques’ wife,
refers to him as the Philosophe.
What a splendid idea! Cooky has always been most impressed by French chef Roger Verge, so from now on I’d like to be addressed not as Miz van der Merwe, but as Cooky Verge. My soccer-mad Zimbabwean gardener has followed suit and has let me know that he now wishes to be addressed as Lovemore Maradona.
How weird, why on earth would you change your name like that, unless they are hiding from something ? Money troubles in the past ?
As the says goes “There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary”
I wonder how the owners of La Mouette feel about this episode? – which from my last count spans at least 4 blogs already and Facebook. Who will ever forget them now?
Rosemary says:
“I wonder how the owners of La Mouette feel about this episode? – which from my last count spans at least 4 blogs already and Facebook. Who will ever forget them now?”
…or how oily their food is.