Remember Marilyn Hagerty, the Olive Garden-reviewing meta media food celebrity that recently went on a three day dining tour of New York City? Well, she reviewed Crown in New York for Anderson Cooper, if by "reviewed" you mean "awkwardly compared every part of the experience to dining at Olive Garden." Hey, can't blame the lady for giving her audience what they want.The segment is below:
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Over at the Awl, Maria Bustillos and David Roth tackle the spectacle that has become of Marilyn Hagerty's review of the Grand Forks, ND Olive Garden. Did the review go viral because "people were laughing at this FAIL old lady and her FAIL city"? Or was there a "kind of a reverse-patronizing" going on? Either way, "nobody should have to pay huge sums to be made to feel like you've been dusted inside and out with elderly garlic powder," or as Hagerty herself put it, "There are seats for those who are waiting." [The Awl]
Loading comment form... The viral fire that is the 85 year old North Dakota restaurant critic Marilyn Hagerty continues unabated. After her review of the Italian culinary stalwart the Olive Garden made the rounds on the internet last week, she was interviewed on CBS This Morning Saturday, telling the hosts, "I've been a lot of other things, but never viral." And the word is that she's headed to New York City for a full-on media assault.
Herald scribe Ryan Bakken wrote that he spent half of last Thursday functioning as Hagerty's press secretary, fielding inquiries from CBS News, Fox News, Piers Morgan Tonight and Comedy Central's Tosh.O (time for some web redemption?). She also landed on Grand Forks' News Leader WDAY News 6 who attempted to take her back to the Olive Garden. When rebuffed by staff, WDAY took her to one of Hagerty's other favorites, the Ground Round. Here's the CBS video:
Loading comment form... Marilyn Hagerty, the North Dakota reviewer who wrote of the "impressive" new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, tells Fork In The Road: "I don't have time to sit here and twit over whether some self-styled food expert likes, or does not like, my column." Also: Hagerty's paper, the Grand Forks Herald, analyzes the wave of attention the piece has received: "In larger markets, reviews are reserved for exclusive, high-end eateries that offer fine dining." [FITR, Grand Forks Herald via @Gastropoda]
Loading comment form... The restaurant chain Olive Garden might offer genuine Italian cuisine in an authentic Tuscan environment that only Darden Restaurants, Inc., could provide. Or it might just be committing war crimes against food. But leave it to Marilyn Hagerty, a restaurant critic on the "Eat Beat" at the Grand Forks Herald in sunny North Dakota to set the record straight.
In her review posted yesterday, she wrote that the chicken alfredo came in a "generous" portion and was "warm and comforting on a cold day." (It is cold in North Dakota.) More importantly, she found both the atmosphere and the food "impressive," calling it "the largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks." Watch your back, Macaroni Grill.
· Long-Awaited Olive Garden Receives Warm Welcome [Grand Forks Herald]
· All Olive Garden Coverage on Eater [-E-]
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[Photo: marbla123 / Flickr]
It seems that after decades of serving up overcooked pasta with a side of hospitaliano, America is beginning to lose its love for the Olive Garden. Sales are down and a retired quality-control engineer tells The Chicago Tribune, "The whole Olive Garden experience has deteriorated, in my opinion." Bread sticks seem doughier! Salads are skimping on the tomatoes and olives! It's Olive Garden-pocalypse!
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[Photo: anothertom/Flickr]
Alaskans! Put down that fermented penguin, stewed moss, whale blubber, and whatever it is you people eat up there. And fire up the snowmobile. Because the great state of Alaska is finally getting its first Olive Garden, the restaurant chain that offers genuine Italian cuisine in an authentic Tuscan environment that only Darden Restaurants, Inc., a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Florida, could provide.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that the location is set to open this coming Monday in the Tikahtnu Commons shopping center. Also: "Alaskans have been clamoring for it for years." Now the 5,154 fans of the "We want an Olive Garden In Anchorage!!!" Facebook group will be satiated with the speedy arrival of purposely-overcooked pasta, frosted salad bowls, and "culinary forward" dishes like gorgonzola ravioli with shrimp.
· The date is set: Olive Garden opens Monday [Anchorage Daily News]
· All Olive Garden Coverage on Eater [-E-]
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Well, this is just a really good 1,200 word article about the opening of an Olive Garden in Sioux City, Iowa. It's Iowa's second Olive Garden! As the Gurgling Cod puts it, it's unclear whether journalist/American hero John Quinlan means this as "Onion metaparody, or subtle troll," but it is clear that the good people of Sioux City are really, really excited about "Tuscan farmhouse" cuisine. [Sioux City Journal via the Cod]
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Need further evidence that the "Italian-inspired" restaurant chain the Olive Garden, at the mercy of its customers, might just be the absolute worst? Look no further than the ad campaigns the company has dished out consistently over the last two decades.
None of these spots seem to deviate from the company's tested marketing formula: 30 seconds that must include a gregarious waitress, happy families, and product shots of new additions to the menu. Also, criminal amounts of alfredo and creamy parmesan sauce — boatloads of the stuff — that serve as the finishing touches on preparations like four-cheese-stuffed mezzaluna ravioli with parmesan polenta-crusted steak medallions. Or how about some manicotti with shrimp and alfredo? Here, now, eleven of the most awkward, abhorrent, and ultimately kind of sublime ones out there:
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