The Sacramento Bee Criticizes Dead Chef's Cooking

Well, this is embarrassing: The Sacramento Bee has apologized for an error in their recent review of Silva's Sheldon Inn. Blair Anthony Robertson's recent write-up had mentioned Don Brown in the lukewarm review, because he believed that Brown was still a sous chef at the restaurant.

But in fact, Brown passed away in 2010. Sacramento chef Teresa Urkofsky caught this mistake and posted on Facebook, saying, "If Blair had bothered to do the least bit of research, he would have read of Don's passing on the Silva's Sheldon Inn website. As painful as this is for Don's colleagues to read, I can only imagine how excruciating it is for his family to read."

The review has since been corrected, but Robertson continued with a separate apology on the blog Appetizers.

"I have already heard from many of Mr. Brown's friends and loved ones, and I want to apologize for the jolt of pain and anguish my error caused," Robertson wrote.

An editor's note has been added to the review, saying, "This story has been edited to remove erroneous information about the late Don Brown, an accomplished chef in Sacramento who worked with Doug Silva at Silva's Sheldon Inn and previously for many years at Biba. Mr. Brown died Feb. 17, 2010 of a disabling stroke. The Bee regrets the error."