Restaurant reviews aren't what they used to be: Digital disruption and the transformation of the gastronomic field

As recently as a decade ago, restaurant reviews were the purview of elite professional food critics. Subsequent momentous changes in the media landscape allow anyone with an internet connection to voice their opinion through blogs and Online Consumer Review (OCR) sites such as Zomato and Yelp. The participation of amateurs in the discourse around culinary experiences represents a blurring of the formerly distinct relationship between mainstream media journalists and their audiences. This transformed technological and media landscape has fundamentally affected the discourses and practices of traditional cultural intermediaries in these fields, such as the restaurant reviewer, or "food critic"