ONE OF IRELAND’S most established and high-profile chefs has told TheJournal.ie that he has thrown away a “certificate of excellence” he received from online ratings site TripAdvisor – and is encouraging other chefs to do the same.
Derry Clarke, chef-patron of L’Ecrivain, a Michelin-starred restaurant which has entered its 25th year in business on Baggot Street in Dublin, said that he took his cue from fellow chef, Oliver Dunne.
Dunne, whose Bon Appétit restaurant in Malahide, Co Dublin is also Michelin-starred, tweeted a picture of the cert he received from TripAdvisor this week. The picture showed the cert in the rubbish bin:
via @OliverDunne
Clarke had similar treatment in store for his cert:
via @DerryClarke
Speaking to TheJournal.ie this week, Clarke said that he felt the certificate was only a “piece of paper” and that because reviews could be anonymous on the site, they were difficult to take seriously.
I don’t believe in TripAdvisor. The only reason why is they are anonymous posts. If the posts were traceable, like you’re declared (on the site), then I’ll take it on board but not anonymous.
Both chefs said they would like other restaurateurs to treat the certificates in a similar fashion, with Dunne launching a #BinTheTripCerts hashtag on Twitter.
Dunne told his Twitter followers that he believed TripAdvisor is “an absolute joke of a website” and claimed that it “blanket” sends certificates to restaurants around the country.
Restaurant owner Nick Munier had a spat with TripAdvisor earlier this year when he claimed that a review posted on the site of his Pichet restaurant in Dublin’s city centre was untruthful.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say