D Magazine contributing editor Teresa Gubbins takes a shot at us over on Pegasus. Teresa says some of us in the media have gone a little too ga-ga over Tristan Simon and Nick Badovinus. For example, she calls Sarah’s now-famous post on the Porch — which gave rise to our running “Thanks, Tristan” joke — “excruciatingly infatuated.”
How to respond? This is a tough one. Because Teresa, as I say, is a contributing editor to D Magazine. Should I point out that she misspelled “Nick Badovinius” in her post? Because if I do, it undermines her credibility or at least suggests she ought to be more diligent. I wouldn’t want people thinking one of our contributing editors was anything less than credible and diligent.
Thing is, Teresa has a point. Simon and Badovinus have had a lot of praise heaped upon them. But from my experience, they’ve deserved it. I’m not a dining critic, but I had a wonderful meal at Hibiscus. Every time I eat at Fireside Pies, I enjoy myself. Cuba Libre? Ate lunch there a couple weeks ago and couldn’t have been more satisfied. So my guess is that the Porch deserves the love. Just a guess, because I haven’t been there yet. But so what Teresa doesn’t say is that the infatuation is unfounded. She doesn’t say anything critical of Porch, just of the people writing about it.
One thing’s for certain, though: it’s now clear that she can’t review the place for us. She has already declared herself biased and squarely in the “backlash camp.”
Nancy?