Barbara and Jeff Black at the RAMMYs Sunday night. (Photo via OpenTable)

Jeff Black, the chef and restaurateur who won a trio of prizes on Sunday at the RAMMY awards, is walking back some of the statements he made in one of his acceptance speeches. Specifically, those about the food bloggers.

On Sunday, Black, who won RAMMY prizes for his BlackSalt and Black Jack restaurants as well as his restaurant group, hurt the feelings of wired foodies when he said the following: “It’s great to see respect being given to people that work in the business that do the long hard hours, not the bloggers.”

As Young & Hungry—a reported food vertical published by a newspaper—noted the morning after, Black’s comments resulted in a series of upset tweets from some of the area’s leading food bloggers.

Yesterday afternoon, Black clarified what he said in an interview with Tim Carman, who writes a food and dining news blog published by another newspaper. Black, it turns out, didn’t mean the blog authors, but their commenters, along with the whiny brats who leave nasty complaints on review compendiums like Yelp.

Black acknowledges that some recent posts on Yelp and DonRockwell.com set his teeth on edge. He singled out comment by a Rockwellian, who dissed the food at Pearl Dive Oyster Palace without tasting one bite. Black also highlights a recent female Yelper who claimed that a waiter at Pearl Dive was trying to hit on her boyfriend. The waiter, Black claims, is straight. (I couldn’t immediately find the comment on Yelp.)

When I pointed out to Black that there’s a difference between a diner who rants on Yelp and an often poorly paid or unpaid blogger, he recognized his error. “That’s my mistake,” he says of his use of “blogger” in his speech. “I was referring to those who get ahold of a phone and start typing out on it, thinking they’re an expert.”

Black, it turns out, likes the bloggers, like Metrocurean’s Amanda McClements, Carman reports. But in a letter to bloggers and reporters today, Black acknowledges who he should have been targeting.

“The truth of the matter is I should have directed my comments to people who use the internet as a Bully Pulpit to deride or denigrate many in the restaurant business,” he writes. “Not the trophy chefs and restaurateurs (who should have thick enough skin to take critical comment in stride), but the people who really make the industry work. Countless times nameless, faceless ‘Posters’ on food blogs deride waiters, bartenders and other restaurant employees without thought of the consequences or the commitment these people make every day.”

He continues, writing that he has a “laundry list” of instances of customers demanding comped meals and other preferential treatment under the threat of negative blog comments and Yelp reviews. A call to Black asking for examples in addition to the two Carman cited was not immediately returned.

But the bloggers themselves, it seems, are off the hook. (So long as they don’t pull any of those obnoxious stunts like the commenters and Yelpers do.)

Here’s Black’s letter:

To the blogging and media community,

I certainly apologize if my comments at the RAMMY awards were upsetting and I am sorry they were taken out of the context I intended. The point I was trying to make is about the underappreciated people in our industry. Have you ever cleaned a toilet you didn’t own? Scrub pots of food you were not allowed to taste. Clean a table that the food and drink from were more expensive than you can afford. Many of us in the restaurant business have. It’s where we start and hopefully with enough dedication we prosper.

The truth of the matter is I should have directed my comments to people who use the internet as a Bully Pulpit to deride or denigrate many in the restaurant business. Not the trophy chefs and restaurateurs (who should have thick enough skin to take critical comment in stride), but the people who really make the industry work. Countless times nameless, faceless “Posters” on food blogs deride waiters, bartenders and other restaurant employees without thought of the consequences or the commitment these people make every day.

At Black Restaurant Group we support blogs that celebrate Hospitality, That support The Local Food Scene, that spotlight farms and farmers and all the hard work they do. What we don’t support are people who come to the restaurants and make threats of negative posts for “freebies” or to skirt the rules. Again I do humbly apologize if my comments where taken out of context. I was merely trying to stand up for the people that make my company the success that it is.

Thank you,
Jeff Black
Black Restaurant Group