'Stop Being So Rude,' <i>Saveur</i> Publisher Tells Sam Sifton After Fishtag Review

If you zero-star a restaurant, you're bound to ruffle some feathers (see: Jeffrey Chodorow's open-war on Frank Bruni after he goose-egged the now-closed Kobe Club). But, this time, New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton's takedown of Michael Psilakis's Fishtag prompted a response from a fellow food world insider, Saveur publisher Merri Lee Kingsly.

In a comment sent to Eater after being rejected by New York Times moderators, Kingsly says she is "exhausted reading the nasty reviews" and believes that Sifton needs to "stop being so rude to the chefs in our world that work so damn hard every single day."

As of this month, Saveur started publishing restaurant reviews, but Kingsly assures readers that they will be "all about the love, passion and authenticity that goes into food."

For a look at a signature dish from Fishtag -- pictured above -- that Sifton slammed as "critic bait" (Sifton: "What ... is the purpose of a grilled branzino stuffed with headcheese, except to tempt food loons eager to experience something different?"), check out this video by Josh Ozersky from the Fishtag kitchen.