Leslie Brenner finds her work the subject of a post on Romenesko today. A bit embarrassing. I’d like to echo what Nancy (and some commenters) said over on SideDish: the real sin here isn’t that the lead dining critic from the Dallas Morning News leaned heavily (to put it as kindly as possible) on the work Daniel Vaughn published in our pages. Where Brenner really screwed up was when she responded so condescendingly to Daniel because, you know, he’s just a lowly blogger. In this day and age, that attitude is pretty silly. Daniel Vaughn probably knows more about barbecue — especially local barbecue — than anyone else in Dallas. When Daniel wrote her about his concerns, Brenner should have immediately thanked him for his work and done so publicly on the paper’s food blog. Whether she should have done so initially in print is a matter up for debate, but the way she handled this matter is inexcusable.
Daniel has pointed out on his blog that the one good thing to come of this is that some out-of-the-way barbecue joints in North Texas are getting some deserved attention. I’d add another good thing: Daniel’s work is getting some attention, too. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
