dcress

Well said, FG. I have trouble orienting myself in a text only menu (a la menupages or allmenus).

there's some good competition in the space: menupages.com and allmenus.com

I'd call or go in person - in my experience restaurateurs are extremely difficult to reach. Also, in my experience, PR firms won't pay for advertising.

Hi Sarah, Congrats on the site. Its going to be a tough sell, but its manageable - - - if you put the time into making sales call. Depending on how much of your time it takes to sell a membership, you'll figure out (fairly fast, I imagine) how much effort its worth putting into the project. Your first step should be the creation of a clear cut value proposition for clients. Perhaps offer a pay-per-view model like CitySearch - this might make it easier for a client to say yes. [FYI - CitySearch uses keyword arbitrage to grossly (and quite profitably) inflate their paid-for page views.] Best of luck. Doug Cress

seems spammy?

cool link merstar - recipes are a very popular and competitive space on the web. The "headstart" RecipeZaar no doubt helped them gain some traction. Grouprecipes.com is a cool new recipe site which is rapidly growing - its very 2.0 - you can see the investment made by the site's creators.

I'm sure many of you will recoil upon hearing the term Supertaster. Its far too simplistic in my opinion, and hardly an apt description of the trait. Nonetheless, its an interesting area of study and has a broad impact on the way we experience food as well as our food preferences. It raises the question, is one-size-fits-all food and wine criticism of any use? Slate also ran a three part story on the topic which might be worth your time.

I feel the same way, Pan. Just b/c someone posts under a pseudonym does not mean they're anonymous. The internet has redefined the concept. To those on this board (the ones, arguably, to whom your opinion means something) your criticism is unique and identifiable.

BusBoy - agreed - the fact that the Amateur Gourmet was invited back to Le Cirque possibly made his career possible - its such a great story for the Media to latch onto - but it was unprofessional by existing standards. here's my take on the matter. An ecclesiastical history of the food web, the media’s response to online restaurant criticism, and why Mario Batali is an idiot. - I read a few hundred food blog posts each week.

cool site - I love crappy snacks. I wonder what their take is on MSG.

It wouldn't look good Peter. These sustainable agriculture theories all but fall apart in large metropolitan areas. Unless the land surrounding New York City is repurposed, the area will remain dependent on food that is trucked/shipped in.