{"id":43649,"date":"2013-06-05T00:27:05","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T22:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=43649"},"modified":"2013-06-05T17:55:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T15:55:00","slug":"eat-out-2014-to-reduce-in-size-by-more-than-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/eat-out-2014-to-reduce-in-size-by-more-than-half\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat Out 2014 to reduce in size by more than half!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One wonders why New Media Publishing is changing its Eat Out 2014<\/strong> magazine, announcing on Monday that it is reducing the size of the restaurant magazine by more than half, in carrying only 500 restaurant write-ups, compared to the listing of 1100 restaurants in Eat Out <\/strong>2013!<\/p>\n

The cost saving in reducing the size of the magazine is evident, advertising sales for the magazine probably being a greater challenge this year, given how tight the economy is. Another reason must be the power of the internet, with fewer restaurant lovers paging through the\u00a0Eat Out<\/strong> magazine, and more Googling information about restaurants, often finding the websites of Food24<\/strong> and Eat Out<\/strong>, with the largest listings of restaurants. \u00a0Bloggers are a threat to these two sites, as increasingly top restaurant bloggers find their reviews on the first page of Google too. \u00a0 The blog reviews may have greater credibility than the conglomerate restaurant sites, in being more honest. \u00a0The conglomerate restaurant sites have been seen to copy restaurant information directly from the restaurant websites, without writing their own reviews in many instances, thus affecting their credibility as an information source. \u00a0The Eat Out <\/strong>website has been criticised for carrying out-of-date information about restaurants.<\/p>\n

To try to detract attention away from the drastic reduction in the Eat Out <\/strong>2014 content, New Media Publishing announced that restaurants must apply to be considered to be included in South Africa’s Top 500 restaurant list! \u00a0Closing date for applications is 30 June. \u00a0The applications will be evaluated ‘by a panel of 50 \u00a0of ‘South Africa’s top food\/restaurant industry experts (to be announced)’.<\/em> Restaurants will be evaluated on menu composition, ingredient seasonality, wine, service, and ambiance, plus other (unnamed) factors. In case the message is not clear, the Eat Out<\/strong> announcement emphasises that only the Top 500 selected restaurants ‘that impress our 50-strong editorial panel’ <\/em>will be included in the restaurant magazine next year. \u00a0The form to be completed requests a description of the restaurant, the year in which it opened, its seating capacity, its signature dishes and the average price of the main courses (how does this work for a Tasting Menu?), its policy on BYO wine and the corkage fee, and the credit cards accepted by the restaurant.<\/p>\n

It is disconcerting that the criteria for inclusion have not been clearly stated. \u00a0Of concern too is that one of the most sensitive issues, being that the chef has to have been at the restaurant for a twelve month period from November 2012 onwards, is not mentioned, and one does not know if any\/all restaurants, no matter how recently opened, will be included in the Top 500 Restaurant list. \u00a0It is also not clear if the Top 20 shortlist, and the ultimate Eat Out <\/strong>Top 10 Restaurant list, will be derived from the Top 500 list!<\/p>\n

Eat Out Top 500 Restaurants: <\/strong>http:\/\/www.myjotform.com\/EatOut\/restaurant<\/a> Closing date 30 June.\u00a0Image<\/strong>: Eat Out<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: \u00a0 www.whalecottage.com<\/a> Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One wonders why New Media Publishing is changing its Eat Out 2014 magazine, announcing on Monday that it is reducing the size of the restaurant magazine by more than half, in carrying only 500 restaurant write-ups, compared to the listing of 1100 restaurants in Eat Out 2013! The cost saving in reducing the size of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,20,21,19],"tags":[19272,32378,4731,3561,138,19269,19274,19271,4328,4320,2875,252,6056,19273,19270,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t