The Gourmez’s Review Philosophy
At The Gourmez, I aim to bring readers an average consumer’s opinion on food, drink, and travel adventures. They are solely my opinions. That holds true whether I am paying on my own dime or given a freebie to sample. I always disclose samples and complimentary meals with a disclaimer at the top of a post. Read my disclosure policy here.
My first post at The Gourmez appeared in 2006, born out of a desire to learn more about the burgeoning North Carolina farm-to-fork movement, where I lived at the time, and to get into a writing habit. Since 2013, when I moved back to California, I’ve been mostly focused on chronicling my Bay Area foodie adventures, with an emphasis on the East Bay. I took a break from blogging during the early pandemic years, but with this website refresh, I’m back! Thanks to my amazing husband, Ben, for the redesign.
Please remember as you peruse my site: Taste is incredibly subjective. To that end, I try to make clear when something I personally dislike (limp bacon, buttery chardonnays, extra hot steamed milk) may appeal to someone else with different tastes than my own.
I jettisoned my initial rating system years ago because everyone ascribes different meanings to ratings. For some, five stars is perfection and few restaurants will ever earn it. For others, it may simply mean that they had a satisfying meal. For still others, everything gets rated five stars to avoid an employee being reprimanded for anything less.
What else has social media taught us these last 20 years but that we approach EVERYTHING from different perspectives? My newer posts avoid ratings entirely, but you’ll find relics of my discarded rating system in my older ones. Here's a guide, if you're digging in my archives:
Mushroom: Squishy, drab, and usually a fungus. Stay away if at all possible.
Olive: It may come in many colors and flavors, but there’s always a bitter pit at the core.
Chicken: The art of neutrality. It tastes like everything and everything tastes like it.
Avocado: So good, without overwhelming its peers. Pure, simple, delightful.
Dark Chocolate Truffle: Luscious, tantalizing, a masterpiece of its genre.
I hope The Gourmez inspires you to try that nondescript strip mall café you’ve been eyeing or gives you an idea of which $15 bottles of wine offer a $40 experience from the supermarket shelves. I hope you’ll revel with me in the glory of melted cheese on a hamburger wrapper and the first sniff of a floral mourvedre. Dig in.
