On Yahoo! this evening, I stumbled across an article about a long time L.A. Times reporter who, though she had a reservation under another name, was outed at Beverly Hills’ Red Medicine after waiting for a table for forty-five minutes. Her photograph was taken, and she was asked to leave. Her photograph was posted on Eater, seemingly the TMZ of food blogs.

Of course this blog is about Chicago food and beverages, and while we like to think we’re nicer and more polite here, who is to say that someone like Phil Vettel from the Tribune could not be outed. Let’s not include Pat Bruno of the Sun-Times, who tried to remain anonymous using the unlikely pseudonym Pasquale Bruno…oops.

With many bloggers writing about restaurants, more television channels writing about food, and the diminished consumption of print media, people have more information around selecting top restaurants. We find we agree completely with some opinions, and oftentimes we find us drawn into overhyped restaurants with exorbitant prices and food that leaves us hungry. On the other hand, there are plenty of one-star Yelp reviews that show the power, or perhaps the abuse of power, of the average consumer.

In today’s world being a private person appears to be more difficult, but at the end of the day, does it really have to be so brutal?

–Brian Ziegler