CBS News : Still Overpricing Charlie Palmer's Corn Dog

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Yesterday, CBS News Sunday Morning ran a re-hash of their earlier night story on Charlie Palmer and Danny Meyer, which ran a month ago to the day (see previous story). They botched the pricing on Charlie's lobster corn dogs then -- and they did it again yesterday. Here's what they said on July 28, 2005: A new twist and a high price: $9 each. Compare that to the $3 an average real corn dog costs. It proves some comfort food… is only for the truly comfortable... Here is superchefblog's correction: In Washington DC's Charlie Palmer Steak, three (3) lobster corn dogs will set you back $9, not one (1) lobster corn dog. OK, let's heave out our mental calculators and do the heavy math on this one: three Charlie dogs for $9 means one dog for $3 -- which is the same price that Schlesinger quoted for a measly old hot dog corn dog (presumably from a street vendor in New York) -- except that you get great ingredients, top preparation, and luxurious surroundings at Charlie's restaurants, instead of standing out in the street in 100 degree summer weather. Here is what CBS News said yesterday, August 28, 2005: Charlie Palmer's lobster corn dogs cost $9, three times the price of more conventional corn dogs… And they are very popular at his place on Capitol Hill... Any fact-checking interns at CBS News this summer? Would someone please volunteer to be Richard Schlesinger's fact-checker? It was so easy to get the numbers right this time -- because if you look up "Charlie Palmer" and "lobster corn dog" on Google, the three results include two from (you guessed it) superchefblog -- with the correction. Actually, the fact-checking was even easier than googling superchefblog: all a fact-checker had to do was be awake enough when watching the shoot or re-shoot to notice the three (3) lobster corn dogs sitting on the plate during the interview! (See photo at right.) In fact, it looks like four dogs on the plate: my bet is that one of them is the correspondent's regular corn dog from the street outside. Don't they serve coffee at CBS anymore, so that someone can stay awake enough to catch such things? So, I decided to call up the correspondent Richard Schlesinger. First, I tried him at CBS News last night, but their hotline phone line had no automated recording device -- and no one answered. I called again today and was informed that all interaction with CBS News correspondents must be conducted by correspondence (!) and not by phone, so I have an email into him now. Since the whole thing was starting to sound like a 60 Minutes story, I called up fellow Overseas Press Club of America member, Andy Rooney. Now, I've never been in touch with him before, but I figured he would be sympathetic: his most famous food quote goes like this -- I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting. [source] He also said -- Don't take a butcher's advice on how to cook meat. If he knew, he'd be a chef. [source] After seeing so many commentaries on 60 Minutes, I figured he is the kind of guy who like to get the story straight, too. Unlike Mr. Schlesinger, Mr. Rooney takes his phone calls, and I had the pleasure of a few moments of his time this morning. He told superchefblog in that inimitable Andy Rooney voice: I don't know if Schlesinger made a mistake or not, but it doesn't sound very important to me. I'm not a big Charlie Palmer fan. I think it [Aureole] is one of the most over-rated restaurants in America. Finally, Mr. Rooney said he had never had a corn dog in his life. So, the CBS News story stands, corrected only on superchefblog -- for now. Charlie Palmer continues to get a bum wrap from CBS News for allegedly overpriced lobster corn dogs that are really underpriced. 60 Minutes (or Andy Rooney, at least) doesn't really care and doesn't like Charlie's food anyway. Is this what news correspondence has come to in the United States? Well, there's only one thing left to do: anybody for one of Charlie's bargain-rate lobster corn dogs? [Memo to self: Find Schlesinger fact-checking intern for Summer 2006] Previous articles: CBS News Finds Comfort Food: Danny Meyer, Charlie Palmer Technorati Tags: chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, news, television --> back to superchefblog