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Frank Bruni all the way. He doesn’t necessarily evaluate restaurants in a way that inspires me to GO to them (I trust New York Magazine and a few blogs for that) but the man is a food-word magician. Even when his descriptions of his meal make me giggle, I have to smile at his sincerity. I would love to have an anthology of his New York Times reviews (with a few blog entries thrown in: Hello, Hooters review!) on a long train ride. While I’m surely not his target audience, Bruni’s prose manages to tickle my fancy every Wednesday morning.

It was Clotide Dusoulier’s sharing of her food that first encouraged me to seek enjoyment while eating. Until I became familiarized with her weblog, I was under the mistaken impression that my near-obsessive passion for food was a flaw best left unexplored.

Take, for example, her description of an experience at Il Laboratorio del Gelato last summer:

“we were blown away tenfold by the incredible intensity of both flavors, full-bodied and strong, which tasted precisely like the original ingredients they were meant to portray (a fig, a walnut in a spoonful of maple syrup) only in a refreshingly light-textured yet luscious form”

As anyone who tasted these gelatos would agree, the best part of Il Laboratorio is that their gelatos taste like their ingredients. The fact that she described perfection reflects not only her excellent taste, but also her ability to transcribe her taste with complete accuracy.

Francis Lam. New on the scene, even hard to look up, but he meets every one of your criteria, and I think (and hope) we'll be hearing more from him.

how clever!!! it's an invitation hard to refuse, so here goes & knowing comments will immediately blow any consideration, but that's not really the point, n'est-ce pas? it's the 1 time that one KNOWS his/her response will be read by "the panel" & other curious onlookers.

a) Food and Wine Expertise: Do they know their stuff when it comes to food

and wine?

this question is somewhat unfair in that there are mostly food critics, & generally a separate "critic" for wine; so it is very rare to find a combination meshing the 2.

& generally speaking many "appear" to know their stuff, just like a politician "appears" to know stuff; BUT underneath the surface most, of not all, have very little REAL food & wine EXPERTISE. anyone can describe a dish, or regurgitate ingredients, but so few are able to actually transmit their tastings into words that force the readers eyes to close & actually taste the dish itself. that should be the point of a top-notch reviewer. wine is another matter, most reviews are average & filled with much hyperbole, but no real understanding. rarely does one find a reviewer capable of food AND wine expertise.

b) Writing Chops: How well do they write? How good are they at describing food, setting scenes, turning a phrase, making you feel like you're at the restaurant as you read them?

see (a) + some such as françois simon are very good at writing, turning a phrase, but unfortunately his reviews are difficult to judge since he is, obviously, in paris

c) Authority: How authoritative does each criic come across? Are their reviews trustworthy? Do you believe them?

the simple answer is NO! NEVER! too much bias, too much spin, the public has no concept of the symbiotic relationships that exist bet critics & those whom they are reviewing. in fact, the actual experience rarely approaches the reviewer's experience. most times the reviewer is so taken with him/herself, their egos & biases impede upon accuracy. most reviews are much longer than a zagat's 2 sentence review; sadly, their quality usually ends up the same.

Perceptiveness: Does the critic make you think they understand what the point of the restaurant is, what the chef or restaurateur is trying to do?

d) no, the critic cannot for reasons of having a very short professional life. it's fairly clear, the top end is more interested in expanding their empires than overseeing their current restaurants, but most critics never write about this "ambiance". the only true restaurant that comes to mind is le bernadin - owner & owner/chef on site - no other restaurants (as far as i am aware). i'm actually getting a little sick & tired of the danny meyer fan club. my experiences, particularly at USqC, have never matched the fawning press. it's all in the spin.

another example, alain ducasse's failure to capture manhattan, etc, etc... critics do NOT really get it, but as per above, think they do. manhattan has a huge number of restaurants, of which there is probably no reason for roughly 75% of them!!! critics never discuss this. come to think of it, how many restaurants provide true value & actually live up to their critical reputation???

last nite was a prime example - madison bistro, on madison nr the morgan library. ordered a BAKED epoisses tart on endive, which was served with the inside still chilled!!!?? sent back, came out again, only somewhat baked on less than half the endives!!?? ate a quarter of, & when asked, explained what was wrong. the server, the g.m, nor the owner/chef came over - another example of the type of place that exists, but REALLY has no reason to. another 1 of these cute little bistros with what appears to be a lovely menu, BUT can't execute!! but, it's what people will put up with, which actually translates, "reviewers are pretty much like the general public, its rare to come across one who is able to express all of the above & comprehend their other responsibility, which is to alert & place the restaurant on notice. again, a point most critics totally misunderstand, which should be part of their pact with the public, their base, or - as more common - their base ends up being the restaurant - totally wrong, but typical.

with all that being said, the only critic that comes close to fulfilling what this site is asking is ---- Bryan Miller. as acerbic as they come, very food knowledgeable, quite descriptive of a restaurant, & just skeptical enough to understand what his job is/was. conversely, & not raised in the site's question, but should have been - the worst judges/critics - my nomination is the overrated, but much beloved calvin trillin!!! a very good writer, but not a food critic, my dog could review better :)

I don’t know if you’ll accept duplicate nominations, but I certainly second Peter Meehan.

Many restaurant critics leave me feeling as if I’ve just stepped off a tour bus. At the end of the review, I’m just another happy consumer with a few more colorful photos (or dinner reservations) in my book, and the tour guide is on the move again, either tweaking current listings or out searching for the next big tourist hotspot. But Peter, he’s your local guy. He might show you the same touristy place and tell the same stories; or he might take you to that spot where yes, the food was great but a hot date place it ain’t. But his love and respect for these kitchens add unexpected warmth to your visits and sweetens anything placed before you.

Very few critics produce reviews I remember years later, but I can’t eat an oyster without recalling something Robb Walsh once wrote. He consistently achieves the holy grail of restaurant writing – articles that are engaging to read even for those who will never visit the restaurant in question. His pieces provide wonderful insights into the history and background of whatever food he’s discussing. His occasional multi-part series about the history of different cuisines are particularly laudable. Finally, I trust him. His recommendations are my dining guide during my bi-annual visits to Houston, and I have never been disappointed.

My entry should win because I whittled it down from four pages. My ability to follow instructions should reassure you that I'll be a pleasant dining companion. Seriously, if the winnng entry has 101 words then I'll be forced to sulk and grouse for weeks.

Bruni begins with the unfair advantage of living in New York and writing about food that haunts my dreams. He takes full advantage of his amazing good luck: Masa today, a diligent search for the city's best burgers tomorrow. The Bruni Blog engages his "audience" in a conversation. The blog also lets him share his thoughts on subjects that don't appear in papers and it turns out that these subjects - behind the scenes in a restaurant or the culture and etiquette of restaurant dining - are interesting. Whether it's a printed review or a musing online his writing is always engaging.

I don’t believe that the greatest restaurant critic lives in Chicago, but I do think that in order to critique a critic, you must at the very least, eat what they eat. So with that in mind, my vote is for Mike Sula of the Chicago Reader

Who?!

Sula’s an obsessed foodie, who pays no attention to the celebrity of chefs. He eats and writes with a fearless wit and has a distinctive point of view that includes a sense of value, both monetary and aesthetic. He refuses to drag his readers through the mundane and loves to highlight the weird.

THE BEST FOOD CRITIC

Clearly, one of the judges will have to recuse himself for this one....My hands down choice is Mr Steingarten. Why ???? He has passion. Any man that can blow through as many apppliances as he has in pursuit of an ideal wins the passion contest. He writes with both style and passion which makes me care about things that previously had no interest for me. His authority derives from that same passion because he can say "been there, done that" unlike many others. Setting aside the larger issues of perceptiveness...the true essence of his approach to food is that so often, his inquiries and quests are for the things that so many of us wonder about...pizza ovens!

Blinded in the Blitz, Roy Andries de Groot could not eat with his eyes. When he described a meal his words were purely about the food.

He's the author of the only restaurant review I know of that appeared in book form, Recipes From The Auberge Of The Flowering Hearth. A wide-ranging, delightful paean to all things gustatory, it's a book that helped change the way we eat in America.

Mr. de Groot went to France seeking Les Peres Charteaux and ended up falling in love with a small inn nestled in the valley below the monastery. His depiction of the female innkeepers cooking seasonally and locally continues to influence our ideas on food to this day.

He also wrote both on food and restaurants for many magazines and eminent papers, but it is this book for which he is best remembered.

Jane and Michael Stern changed the way I eat.

My Roadfood is dog-eared and irreplaceable because the Sterns transform looking for dinner into an uncompromising search for taste in all its myriad forms. From roasted lobster on tree stumps at The Place in Guilford, CT to the peppery heat of Craig’s Bar-B-Q in DeValls Bluff, AR, Roadfood has given me places to eat. But it’s also turned me into a food explorer, and – as any eater worth his salt should know – there is no clear destination, but rather the journey is itself the goal, one bite at a time.

This is my favorite foodie blogger: http://augieland.blogs.com/augie_land/

I didn't grow up in a home with gormet cooking, nor did I grow up in a metropolis with an abundance of delicious resaurants to choose from. Alas, I grew up in the western Sierra Nevada, in a small mountain town, with my Mom who was a single mother, and worked two jobs. Her busy schedule kept her from long stints in the kitchen and lead her straight to the quick and easy meals. Perhaps that is what sent me nose first into a pluthera of cook books. I will never forget my first encounter with "The Silver Palate," it was not only a spiritual awakening but it was when I first found out that not everything is cooked in a crock pot. After that I have been on what some would call a pilgrimage to learn, see, experience, and taste everything that involves food. This is where I have come across Anthony Bourdain, Ruth Riechel, and Jeffery Steingarten, and I have to say, that I have been truely inspired by Mr. Steingarten. I promise I am not sucking up, I don't even want to win, I just wanted to put in my two cents. His honesty and sincereity are inspiring, and who knows more about single ingredients than he? His writings have sent me into numerous amounts hunger fits. My newest food fantasy involves a long Steingarten tour of Eurpoe, stopping at all the restaurants and B&B's he speaks so highly of, and then to come home with a waist wider than my smile. His hours spent perfecting recipies in the kitchen shows exactly how dedicated he is to his job. He always leaves me wanting more, and that is, after all, the job of any food critic, restaurant, and/or chef.

I have relished the simplicities at Sushi of Gari , been transported to the briny coast of Amalfi by Le Bernardin, dreamed of lazy days and earthy cigars at Cafe Habana, felt improper at the propriety of Honmura An, tasted the bravura of real lox at Barney Greengrass, suffered disappointment at the hands of David Chang, endured the post-coital regrets of Koreatown, cried at the loss of 2nd Ave deli, laughed at overindulgence of per se, applauded the performance at Double Eight Palace, relished the company of MY diner, sipped my dreams at Milk and Honey, and hoped for acceptance at Il Mulino. But I have not yet dined with Frank Bruni.

Self-described “alpha hound” Jim Leff, cofounder of chowhound.com, uncovers secret deliciousness around New York and around the world. Jim leads an on-line community of adventure eaters and has written for publications such as Newsday, Slate, Wine & Spirits, The New York Times, Time Out New York. He is also a regular contributor to The Next Big Thing on NPR. Right now Jim is crisscrossing North America on a two-month delirious road trip in search of hyperdeliciousness. This eclectic and off-beat food writer will go to culinary extremes to find edible treasures that are cooked with heart and soul.

pam@erogers.net

Hands down, my choice is Peter Meehan. He writes about restaurants I can afford in neighborhoods I’m not tired of going to. The big time NY critics pick greatly anticipated new arrivals and well established old timers, rarely venturing outside of Manhattan. Peter takes us to Red Hook, Bushwick, and Astoria, to hofs, taquerias, areperias, and kimchi stands. I would know nothing about the subtleties of Korean twice-fried chicken or Russian dumplings without Meehan’s articles. Additionally, Meehan is my favorite critic because he seems like he’s having fun, always mentioning the music playing in the background while he eats.

Calvin Trillin’s writing on food, travel, culture and life make me feel a personal connection to him and his subject matter. His infectious enthusiasm is endearing, and his command of the language gives his writing authority and clarity.

Although Trillin’s accomplishments are enviable, he never condescends. He projects a warmth and trustworthiness that make him convincing and thought-provoking. And besides feeling that it would be a privilege to know him (his dedication to his late wife, Alice, and his three daughters is inspiring), the idea of going to a restaurant that he particularly liked is just plain exciting.

I’d like to mention a food writer who has set higher standards for fearless honesty in the medium I work in, the internet. In Regina Schrambling I trust. She knows how to cook and it shows. She’s not afraid to call out a naked emperor when PR flacks are trying to sell us new clothes. She answers the simple question those of us who don’t have bottomless expense accounts ask: Will I go back? No florid sycophantism, no tenuous metaphors, just a sense of place, service, and taste in a pithy package.

My favorite restaurant “critic” is the Zagat guide. While the consumer-based surveys are not sophisticated, they give me a sense of the restaurant’s food, service and atmosphere. I’ve consistently found their reviews to be on target and I like being able browse by ratings, top lists and location. Whenever I travel, I use the Zagat guides to orient me to the restaurant scene and give me ideas of places to try and places to avoid. Everything I want is accessible, easily read, easy to interpret, relatively trust worthy, and is contained in one very portable little red book.