Minneapolis area restaurants were none too pleased when local wine critic John Glas sent them a letter requesting free food and wine in order to be considered for the Best Wine Bar list in City Pages’ upcoming Wine & Dine issue.

Glas, who is a freelancer, sent out the following missive, which one restaurant promptly forwarded to the daily Star Tribune:

Due to the zero budget I am working with, the 4 courses and 4 wines will have to be complementary, but if you win or are a top five the free advertising is priceless.

The Star Tribune informs its readers that, “boldface and underlining are from the original.”

After finding out about the letter, City Pages managing editor Matt Smith promptly killed the project, and in the words of MinnPost.com, “[fell] on his sword” on behalf of the clueless freelancer:

“I think the main issue here, to be honest, was a lack of communication on my part,” Smith says. “With experienced freelancers, it’s generally understood that we wouldn’t ask them to pay for expenses out of their own pocket, and that they can submit reasonable expenses when the story is done.”