In this 24 September post I listed 6 things readers might expect to get from a restaurant review.  I may need to add a 7th consideration, “The Permission Factor”. I first heard this applied to theatre reviews in this article from Monday’s New York Times analysing the demise of the Broadway musical Young Frankenstein. Noting that audience satisfaction surveys rated the show above 90 percent despite so-so reviews from the critics, producer Robert F. X. Sillerman cited the permission factor as one reason why this did not translate into positive word of mouth and increased sales:

People sometimes need permission to like things, and they get the affirmation of that from friends and critics and from a general perception.

Diners might seek permission from friends, colleagues, mavens, foodies or, yes, paid food critics, to like a particular restaurant, chef, dish, recipe, trend, etc.  I know from personal experience that food critics themselves seek permission from their own networks of food experts (chefs, growers, artisans, culinary scholars, publicists) to like something new or unfamiliar, too. Without that validation they may be hesitant to extol an alien dish or an unknown chef.