Slice and Dice Read Online Free PDF

muttered George. Switching his glare to Sophie, he continued. “You already know the drill. You should be able to step in without any hand holding.”
     
    “So what’s it gonna be?” asked Yale, turning to her with his formidable gaze.
     
    The moment had come. She hadn’t realized she’d be this excited. “Yes, I’d like the job, providing you can meet two conditions.”
     
    Yale shifted in his chair, removing the cigar from his mouth. “You said one condition yesterday, Sophie. You wanted us to hire you a full-time assistant — in this instance, your son. I’ll have to look at his resume, of course, but I think I can guarantee it won’t be a problem.”
     
    Now she was even more excited. “Rudy will be home from his trip next Sunday. I’ll make sure he sets up an appointment with you right away.”
     
    “Fine,” said Yale. “Now about this other condition …”
     
    Sophie knew her second point might be a harder sell. Even so, she felt so strongly about it that in her mind it was a potential deal breaker. Taking a deep breath, she plunged ahead. “I don’t want to use a star system for rating restaurants.”
     
    “What?” George sat up in his chair. “We’ve always used a star system. I instituted it twenty-three years ago.”
     
    “And now that I’m on board, I want to do away with it.” She’d prepared her arguments ahead of time, so she started right in. “Star systems might work in Europe, but they don’t here. In France, for instance, stars represent levels of refinement, so you know you need to achieve certain standards to qualify for certain star levels. But in the United States, there are no clear standards. When the restaurants being reviewed range from multimillion-dollar enterprises to simple storefront eateries, the system breaks down. It becomes meaningless.”
     
    “No, it doesn’t,” insisted George, his round face growing flushed. “Yale, tell her she’s wrong.”
     
    Yale folded his arms over his chest. “I’d like to hear a little more on the subject — from both of you. A little healthy debate.”
     
    George shot him an exasperated look. “Look, the use of stars forces a reviewer to be honest. You can’t be wishy-washy. You have to make a clear statement and then you use the force of the stars to back it up. Even Sophie has to admit that the market today demands stars. It adds weight and significance to a review. All the big boys do it, so we should, too. And then … well, there’s a more pragmatic reason.”
     
    “What’s that?” asked Yale.
     
    “Time. It’s a quick way for our readers to decide where to spend their hard-earned money. As far as I’m concerned, the case is closed.”
     
    “But that’s just my point,” said Sophie. “People look at the stars and don’t read the review — and they should.”
     
    “It’ll never work,” said George, shaking his head. “People who read this newspaper expect our restaurant reviews to include ratings. Even the restaurants themselves expect it.”
     
    “The luxury restaurants perhaps. But is a luxury context always better than, say, an ethnic restaurant that operates on a shoestring?”
     
    “You’re muddying the point.”
     
    “That is the point,” said Sophie. “Not all the restaurants in this town fall along the same continuum. Even you have to admit you don’t have a clue how to rate some places.”
     
    George grunted.
     
    “And even with the luxury restaurants, you could have meals there during a two- or three-week period, write your review, and then two weeks later the chef quits. But the rating stays until you get around to reviewing the restaurant again, which could be years later. It’s not fair.”
     
    “Oh, I get it. You’re going to be a bleeding-heart-liberal food critic. Fairness above standard business practice. Good luck,” George said, spitting the words at her. “In my mind, fairness should remain secondary to truth.”
     
    “But, George,” said Sophie,