Austin Critic Fearless Guide Restaurant

Fearless Critic is a series of restaurant guides to US cities. The series was founded in 2003 and currently has five restaurant guides—most notably Washington, DC, Houston, Texas, and Austin, Texas—and one wine guide, The Wine Trials. The books are sold largely in bookstores (e.g. Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, Amazon.com) and food stores (e.g. Whole Foods Market).

Rating system

The series uses a 10-point rating scale (1.0 to 10.0). In 2007, with the Houston guide, the series experimented with a letter grading system (from A+ to D-), but has since moved back to the original 10-point scale.

Series name change

The series was called "The Menu" until 2005, when it was renamed "The Fearless Critic." Older titles in the Northeast US still bear "The Menu" title.

Controversy over ratings

The Fearless Critic has incited debate on food boards such as Chowhound over its harsh ratings..

The Wine Trials

The Fearless Critic's first wine book, The Wine Trials, sparked debate over its claim that non-expert wine drinkers preferred cheap bottles to more expensive bottles in scientific blind tastings.

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence controversy

On August 15, 2008, Fearless Critic founder Robin Goldstein revealed that he had submitted an application for a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for an imaginary restaurant in Milan, which he named "Osteria L'Intrepido" ("Fearless Restaurant"), and that the non-existent restaurant had won the award. The expose was reported widely across the media and blogosphere.

See also

• Zagat Survey
• Restaurant rating
• Michelin Guide
• Wine Spectator

References

1. ^ "Chowhound Food Media and News". 2007-02-25 . http://www.chowhound.com/topics/374868 . Retrieved 2008-01-30 .  
2. ^ "Newsweek: Tastes Great, Less Billing". 2008-04-07 . http://www.newsweek.com/id/129535 . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .  
3. ^ "New York Times: Wine's Pleasures: Are They All in Your Head?". 2008-05-07 . http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/dining/07pour.html . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .  
4. ^ "New York Magazine: Imaginary Restaurant Snags 'Wine Spectator' Award of Excellence". 2008-08-20 . http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/08/imaginary_restaurants_can_buy.html . Retrieved 2008-08-20 .  

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ALEXIS HERSCHKOWITSCH has written and edited for the Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide, as well as Fodor's guides to Mexico, El Salvador, and Thailand.

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