Report: Belo Hires Top Gun to Defend Libel Case Over Eatery Review

By: Charles Geraci Belo is apparently taking a lawsuit over a restaurant review in its Dallas Morning News very seriously. The Dallas Business Journal reported today, "Belo has hired media lawyer Charles 'Chip' Babcock to defend [reporter Dotty] Griffith and the paper. Babcock, one of Texas' top legal guns, successfully defended Oprah Winfrey against claims that she had libeled Texas beef."

The case involves famed Texas restaurateur Phil Romano, displeased that his new Il Mulino New York eatery got a good but not excellent rating in Griffith's April 16 review, and that she allegedly got some facts wrong.

Romano charges that Griffith, the chief restaurant critic for the Morning News, is not qualified enough to write reviews and made blatant errors. He claims he doesn't have "any gorgonzola in the place," refuting Griffith, who wrote that the Porcini mushroom ravioli "whispered of gorgonzola." She also described the vodka sauce as "finished with butter," which Romano, in an interview with The New York Times, denies.

None of the paper's top news executives would comment on the matter, referring calls to its parent company's assistant general counsel, David Starr. He told E&P today, "There are no current plans to print a correction or retraction in the paper."

Starr also released this statement: "It's clear from the complaint that the plaintiff recognizes that the review was an expression of opinion, protected by the First Amendment. If this sort of claim were allowed to proceed, newspapers, magazines, and others would have to defend unfavorable reviews of restaurants, books, movies and the like constantly. Since claims like this are not allowed under the law, the plaintiff has tried to concoct claims other than defamation -- but those efforts cannot hide the fact that they simply disagree with the review. Their disagreement, fortunately, is not grounds for a lawsuit."

Last Thursday, a New York judge dismissed a claim filed by a Manhattan restaurant against Zagat's, ruling that "a restaurant review, no matter how harsh, is not an appropriate basis for a libel action."

In his suit, Romano claims that Griffith brought a friend, Janet Cobb, to the restaurant. Cobb's family, he said, owns two competing Italian restaurants, Mi Piaci and Il Sole, both in Dallas.