In short: Getting into a publication feels wonderful and sometimes brings in not a single table. Before chasing press, critics or food influencers we ask three questions: whether the people who read it can actually come, whether it fits the restaurant, and whether we will be able to tell if it brought anyone in. Press makes sense when there is news (an opening, a new menu, an anniversary), with the press kit and photos ready. You don’t chase a critic: you make their job easy and serve them like any other table. With an influencer you check where their followers are, what is paid, what is delivered and with which usage rights, all in writing and with the collaboration labelled as advertising. Paid lists, awards with a plaque and dinner in exchange for ‘a story’ are not worth it. A mention that brings tables shows up the following week in bookings and in searches for the restaurant’s name.
Being featured in the press feels wonderful. You frame it, you put it on your stories, your mum texts you (twice). And sometimes it doesn't bring in a single table. The food press, critics and food influencers can fill your restaurant or cost you a whole month chasing a mention that nobody in your neighbourhood reads. Here's what we look at before we spend so much as a minute on a mention.
Three questions before chasing a mention
1. Is it read by people who can actually come?
A feature in a publication from another city looks divine on the wall and doesn't fill a Tuesday. Proximity comes before size: better ten thousand readers in your own city than half a million scattered around the world, however much better the half million sounds at Christmas dinner.
2. Does it fit what you are?
A set-lunch tavern on a list of ‘restaurants to propose in’ gets one confused visit, one odd review and not much else. The publication, the critic or the account has to speak to your customer, not to one you're never going to have.
3. Will you be able to tell whether it brought anyone in?
If there's no way to measure it, it's a bet. Sometimes a bet is worth placing; what isn't is placing one without knowing you're betting. How it will be measured is decided beforehand, not afterwards.
Press: when it makes sense to call a journalist
A journalist needs a story, not a restaurant that exists (we all exist). The three things that almost always are one: an opening, a menu change and an anniversary. For those moments we prepare the press kit, the photos and the relationship with the food media. Outside them, sending a press release every month achieves exactly one thing: they stop opening them. Where the press fits into the whole, alongside fairs, brands and restaurants, is in what food marketing is.
Food critics: you don't chase them
You don't invite a critic in exchange for anything, and you don't write to them ten times. Sending them a ham doesn't count as a strategy either. You make their job easy: make sure they know you exist, that they can find the menu and some decent photos without having to ask for them, and that the day they come they eat exactly what any other table eats. The rest is out of your hands, and that's exactly as it should be.
Food influencers: what to check before saying yes
- Where their followers are from. If most of them live far away, that reach is good for showing off and nothing else.
- Whether they fit your restaurant and your prices.
- What is paid and what is delivered: fee, number of pieces and dates, in writing.
- Usage rights: whether you'll be able to use that video on your own social media and in your ads, and for how long.
- How you'll measure how many tables it brings in.
And one thing that isn't optional, however often people turn a blind eye: a paid collaboration has to be labelled as advertising, even when the payment is dinner.
| Channel | When it makes sense | What it costs | How it’s measured | Typical mistake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food press | With news: an opening, a new menu, an anniversary | Press kit, photos and time; no payment | Searches for the name and bookings the following week | Monthly press release with no news |
| Critics | You don’t chase them: menu and photos at hand, same service as any table | Nothing | The review, if it comes | Inviting, insisting or sending a ham |
| Influencers | A profile from your city that fits your restaurant and your prices | Fee or dinner + pieces, dates and usage rights, in writing | A dish, a code or a question when booking (‘how did you hear about us?’) | Faraway followers, nothing in writing, not labelled as advertising |
| Paid lists and awards | Never | The fee or the plaque | It can’t be | Mistaking it for press |
What isn't worth chasing
- The ‘ten best’ lists you get onto by paying.
- The awards that write to tell you you've won and, while they're at it, how much the plaque costs.
- The accounts with lots of followers and not a single comment from anyone in your city.
- Dinner in exchange for ‘a story’, with nothing in writing.
How to tell whether it brought in tables
- Ask when they book: ‘how did you hear about us?’. It's free, it takes four seconds and almost nobody does it.
- A dish, a menu or a word that only appears in that piece.
- Check bookings and Google searches for the restaurant's name over the following days.
Our rule is simple: a mention that brings in tables shows up within the following week, in bookings and in Google searches for the restaurant's name. One that doesn't leaves some nice photos, a frame on the wall and not much else. If there's no way to measure it before saying yes, it almost certainly wasn't worth chasing. Where press fits among the other channels (and why it is not the first one) is in our guide to restaurant marketing.
Frequently asked questions
Before investing in press or influencers
How much does a food influencer charge?
It depends on their reach and on what you ask of them. That's why the fee, the number of pieces and the usage rights are negotiated together, and put in writing.
Is it worth offering dinner in exchange for a post?
It can be, if the account is based in your city and fits you. Even so, it's a collaboration: agree what gets posted and when, and it has to be labelled as advertising.
When should you send a press release?
When there's a story: an opening, a menu change or an anniversary. With the press kit and the photos ready before you send it, not after.
Do you work outside Barcelona?
Yes. We work in Barcelona and Catalonia, and also in Madrid, Valencia, Málaga and the rest of Spain.