Review Policy

Created: September 13th, 2011, 2:08am
Updated: February 5th 2012

Review Introduction
Chef at Large is a website that among other types of content, publishes restaurant reviews. There are two types of reviews on this site. First, where I’m invited by the establishment and second where I visit on my own. During the former, I usually visit with a single guest from the restaurant’s target group as this (a) gives me an unbiased, third person point of view (b) propagates the establishment/brand in the local area. The latter happens anonymously, without notice to the establishment in question and at such times I always pay my bills. In the case of invited reviews, depending on my schedule for the day and/or the location of your restaurant, I may request a pick up and drop. Please remember I’m six and a half feet tall and do not fit into little vehicles. If there isn’t a choice, a rooftop luggage carrier would be nice, because that’s where I’ll be perched. My method of rating applies consistently across different types of establishments; street food vendors to starred hotels. Service is not taken into account for invited reviews. I sometimes create short videos of establishments during invited reviews. This provides your guests with a fair idea of the ambiance before they visit. I explicitly request permission to do so.

Contact Chef at Large
Just mail editor@chefatlarge.in or call at 9818628940. If it involves food of any sort, anywhere, we’re interested! We’ll sync schedules and come up with a mutually acceptable date and time. Below are the cities we can currently cover. Please feel free to contact the following people as required.

  • Delhi/NCR – Sid Khullar – editor@chefatlarge.in
  • Bangalore – Natasha Ali – natasha.ali@chefatlarge.in
  • Mumbai – Madhulika Dash – madhulika.dash@chefatlarge.in

Publishing Etcetera
Our publishing schedule for reviews is as follows:

  • Delhi – Tuesday
  • Mumbai – Wednesday
  • Bangalore – Thursday
  • Delhi – Friday

We try our best to adhere to this schedule and publish a review of your establishment (when invited) as soon as possible. Reviews are however, largely individual efforts and publishing schedules are sometimes delayed. During every such instance, please rest assured the review is on top of our mind and will be published at the soonest. We also make every endeavour to ensure you’re informed of the delay in case a timeline has been mentioned to you or your PR/marketing team. It must be mentioned here, that invited or not, the review will reflect reality as we perceive it. Therefore, if you’re looking for nice things to be written about you/your client, please do not call us; wrong choice. Even if you’re prepared for an honest review, please be 100% certain of the food at the establishment in question.

Collateral
If you intend inviting a Chef at Large reviewer to your (client’s) establishment, it would be nice to have the following:

  • Name and address of the establishment
  • Information on the establishment (cuisine type, Chef, management, philosophy…) in hard and soft copies
  • Photographs of the interiors and photos of the food. We usually take our own food photos and ask for them just in case.
  • Soft copy of the menu
  • Starting and ending dates in case the review is in the context of a promotion
  • Contact person in the establishment and his/her mobile phone number

Who Writes Reviews?
I (Sid) write most reviews in Delhi/NCR and in some cases publish reviews written by trusted individuals. In case your establishment is in a city other than Delhi/NCR (We’re trying to cover more cities) a Chef at Large reviewer other than myself may visit at your specific invitation or anonymously. In such cases too, the same rules apply as mentioned earlier on this page.

Idiotic Individuals
I hear of certain individuals who pretend to be from Chef at Large, misbehave, refuse to pay their bills and so on. If this happens at your establishment, please:

  1. Demand an authenticated proof of identity or take a photograph of the individual(s). Please note, a business card is not an authenticated proof of identity.
  2. Send it to me at editor@chefatlarge.in or if required, call me at 9818628940 at any time.
  3. Ask the individual(s) to leave your establishment after collecting on the bill.

My lawyers tell me that the following two points must be mentioned; (a) Chef at Large and Sid Khullar are not liable for the actions of any such individuals including but not limited to the reimbursement of consumables ordered or other damages punitive or actual and (b) Chef at Large and Sid Khullar are not responsible if an establishment chooses to physically remove a diner from their premises whether or not the diner attempted to impersonate a Chef at Large reviewer; this action is taken entirely at the establishment’s discretion.

Conclusion
My constant endeavour is to achieve and maintain the highest possible standards of moral and ethical conduct and I demand the same from anyone representing Chef at Large. If for any reason, you feel a Chef at Large representative does not measure up, please feel free to write to me at editor@chefatlarge.in or call at 9818628940.

Invite Us
Please click here to invite a Chef at Large reviewer over.

Stay well.
Sid
PS: If you’re a ‘Freak’ reading this, you’re welcome to copy-paste this text too as I understand and appreciate that the creation of original content isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Imitation is in fact the sincerest form of flattery. :)

About the Author

Sid is the primary contributor to and editor of Chef at Large. A self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food. He's spent 17 years in varying functions of technology including research & development, training, sales, marketing and mentoring technology startups. He now applies himself to learning more about food and building food and beverage brands online for Brands at Large clients.Sid covers Delhi/NCR for Chef at Large and can be reached at editor@chefatlarge.in