My editors at The Columbus Dispatch merely had to tell me one time: Memorize the decision in Sullivan vs New York Times. That lesson came home to me when I reviewed an eatery owned by one Mark Pi. He became upset when in an otherwise favorable review I dared to note that he was serving “instant Peking duck” because it was ready, as my server advised, in “twenty minute, twenty minute.” Pi wanted me replaced. The then editor Luke Feck penciled a note to me and placed it in my then cloak room mailbox:

“Pi are not square;
Pi are pissed.”

Message loud and clear. I managed over the next 25 years to find soy solace elsewhere.

All of my editors at The Columbus Dispatch had one firm golden rule: Memorize the decision of Sullivan vs New York Times. When I reviewed an eatery owned by one Mark Pi, I offended him by inferring he was serving “instant Peking duck” because I didn’t have to wait 24 hours. Pi than approached my editor du jour to have me replaced. Editor Luke Feck left this writ-by-pencil note in my mail box: Pi are not square; Pi are pissed.

Regardless of how one reads that, his message to me was to pass on any future reviews of Pi-owned restaurants.
I managed to spend more than 25 years following his advice.

2. Neighborhood place or not, many if not most people who read restaurant reviews do so because they are deciding where to ‘invest’ their dining dollars. Before I drop $30 or whatever at a neighborhood place (whatever that means – Komi is in the same neighborhood, as is Popeyes) I appreciate someone who tells me that the chef goes heavy on the salt or tends to make sauces too sweet or that my money would be better spent elsewhere.

Megan, in case you didn’t notice – its not “only a meal.” Its a meal you spend money on, money you might have spent elsewhere, perhaps at a competing neighborhood place that puts more effort into getting food right. And it should be needless to say, but – since Sietsema was not caught taking a bribe, there is no reason to act as though he had taken a bribe.

Sietsema acted like a bully, he was wrong to write the story, his bosses agreed and so should all of you.