QUOTED: Brit restaurant critic Giles Coren on why people should give Rob Ford a break

“I come from a country where there’s a reputation for bad press. And I was appalled by the behaviour of the Canadian journalists. I’m almost sympathetic to Rob Ford.”

—Giles Coren, the notoriously prickly British restaurant critic, not-totally-surprisingly came out as a Ford defender at a recent dinner party-slash-interview with the Star’s Corey Mintz. (To be fair, Coren later elaborated on the “almost,” saying that Ford is “clearly a terrible, terrible man.”)

Coren, who’s in town filming a food TV show called Million Dollar Dinner, attracted lots of media attention earlier this month when he visited city hall and let the mayor buy him a hot dog. The incident unsettled some Torontonians, who took to Twitter to chastise the Brit for inserting himself in the middle of Toronto’s complicated relationship with its mayor.

2. @gilescoren You are 100% out of your depth. Stay out of our local politics, and I'll stay out of your mediocre cookbooks. #TOpoli

— Ian MacIntyre (@MrIanMacIntyre) March 25, 2014

True to character, Coren was not easily cowed.

@UWSOC101 @MrIanMacIntyre hey you pair of dribbling fuckwads, I never defended anyone. It's you can't get a story but don't blame me.

— Giles Coren (@gilescoren) March 25, 2014

@michaelcoren Oh, man, the tedious lefty hack bastards that fell on me because I got some alone time with 'their' crackhead…

— Giles Coren (@gilescoren) March 27, 2014

While the personal attacks may be unnecessary, we have to sympathize with Torontonians who feel a bit possessive about Rob Ford. As with mothers and spouses, it’s one thing for us to judge our civic leader, but it may be best for anyone else to keep their thoughts to themselves.