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By that measure, in my experience -- and I've followed his taste recommendations in both New York and San Francisco, in high-end restaurants as well as holes-in-the-wall -- the best food writer I know of is Ed Levine.

Glad to hear someone ackowledge that reviewing food is something that should be accible to the other 95% of restaurant goers, not just those who like to feel superior. A review of a meal that only 5% of your viewers would ever consider eating is just forgetting your audience or perhaps just appeasing yourself over them. Reviewing food in your mind is for the chef, reviewing it in your words is for readers.

I love Trillan, Apple and the Sterns, but they don't write about restuarants I eat at, so my favorite food writer is...me! That sounds cocky, but I honestly feel I'm a damn good writer. I know about food, I'm always learning about wine and I love my job (one of the food writers for "The Tucson Weekly").

Local food critics at other publications don't share the passion, talent or knowledge I bring to my work. I've done other food related work and people always tell me that my articles make them hungry. What better compliment for any food writer?

Linda Bladholm writes about global cuisine for The Miami Herald with a sense of adventure, and she expertly uses language to convey the sense of the restaurant, the feel of its menu and ambiance, and the taste of its food. Her warmth jumps off the written page and her columns are extremely compelling.

I have been to several restaurants that she reviewed and found her reviews to be right on base. She is knowledgeable about the cuisine of the restaurant, and in terms of the larger context, how that cuisine fits into the uniqueness of Miami.

Jonathan Gold is:

Versatile. Reviewed art, music, and architecture in past critical incarnations.

Nuanced. Delves deeply into regional cuisines and discusses the impact of agriculture and economics on cooking.

Virtuosic. Reviews have visceral immediacy: blowfish like a “treacherous, iridescent flower,” a “seething, volcanic mass” of tofu, “garlic-reeking Alps" of short ribs.

Entertaining. You can read “Counter Intelligence,” his anthropology of L.A. foodways, like a book of short stories.

Intrepid. If the health department closes a restaurant, he’s probably eaten pig uterus, goose intestines, or crispy frog skin there.

Indefatigable. Who else would eat at every Pico Boulevard restaurant?

Jeff Steingarten, author of “The Man Who Ate Everything” and “It Must’ve Been Something I Ate: The Return of the Man Who Ate Everything” is a star among contemporary food writers. Jeff indulged his obsession with food by giving up a law career and becoming a food critic. He is the winner of numerous awards from the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Jeff approaches food writing with discipline and gluttony, and his writing is entertaining, thought-provoking, authoritative and witty. Jeff has been called our most original investigative food writer and I could not agree more.

- Pam@erogers.net

There's one more criterion I'd like to add to your list: infallibility. In other words, if you follow the writer's advice, are you ever likely to have a bad meal?

By that measure, in my experience -- and I've followed his taste recommendations in both New York and San Francisco, in high-end restaurants as well as holes-in-the-wall -- the best food writer I know of is Ed Levine.

It isn't sucking up if it's true.