Created: September 13th, 2011, 2:08am
Updated: March 28th 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. 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
We try our best to publish the 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.
Post-Invite Process
I’ve received a few queries on ‘how does it work?’ In a nutshell, after you invite us, we fix a mutually convenient date/time and eventually meet up. The menu can be of your choosing – either you could take us through a tasting menu comprised on on-menu offerings or ask us to order regular portions from the menu – either way, the food must be available on your regular menu without any tweaks that aren’t available to the dining public. That’s that.
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.
Review Format
A ‘normal’ restaurant review (no promotions, normal menu) will usually be a balanced combination of text, photographs, video and information. Festival/promotion reviews, considering the usually vastly reduced subject matter, will usually feature lower than normal textual content. Your review will generate one or more of the following content elements:
- Text review + Food & Interior Photographs on the main website
- Video (hosted on YouTube)
- Blurbs and photos (if appropriate) in our monthly newsletter (2000+ subscribers)
- Mentions on our page (6000+ members) and group (1000+ members)
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:
- 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.
- Send it to me at editor@chefatlarge.in or if required, call me at 9818628940 at any time.
- 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’ or a ‘FED’ 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. 
seems some one went as you or your organisation? which hotel was this as they should have also verified if they have invited some one and his ID or some papers .
Hey Chef where did this happen..the establishment shud have called & confirmed with u and then kicked the butts of those shameless ppl
True Kaajal, they should have. I’ve written to them to try and identify the individuals as I have a fairly decent idea of who it could be.
Quite a shame, how some people can fall below their dignity to disgrace someone else just because someone is incapable of doing something!