David Corcoran

Word of mouth is my very best source. Everyone should feel free to make suggestions: njdine@nytimes.com. I also look at the reviews in the competition, visit eGullet and chowhound.com, follow Rosie's listing of opening and closings, and in general keep my ear to the ground (which sometimes makes it hard to swallow).

I guess a restaurant critic doesn't have to be a cook, just as a music critic doesn't have to play an instrument. On the other hand, a basic understanding of techniques and ingredients is crucial, and learning to cook is an obvious way to acquire such an understanding. Also, while our job is to serve readers and not chefs or restaurant owners, a reviewer needs to have a certain level of empathy with the staff. Otherwise we risk souding arrogant and uninformed, and setting unrealistic expectations. About eating out 6 or 7 times a week: full-time reviewers do just that. I am not a full-time reviewer. If I could, I'd dine out more often, if only to have a broader context for comparing restaurants with one another.

My most frequent dining companion is my wife. We've been married 19 years, so our food and wine experience tracks very closely. Other companions tend to be very serious foodies, though for the most part not professionals. Without being utterly obnoxious, I usually taste more than a bite of a companion's dish. Our table sometimes resembles a complicated Frisbee match, with plates flying back and forth, clockwise and counterclockwise. And yes, their opinions matter (especially when they come from my wife).

All of the above, but especially the last.

Naturally, I'd like to experience the very best with each and every dish. But as reviewers, we stand in for the general public, so we do our best to avoid special treatment. That's why we make our reservations anonymously and make every reasonable effort not to be recognized as reviewers. (Not always easy: the other night, I was just sitting down when an old acquaintance spotted me from across the room. "David Corcoran!" he exclaimed. "Are you here for business or pleasure?")

Geography is an important factor for readers, so it's an important factor for us. If an area is underserved or overserved by a certain kind of restaurant, that's certainly worth mentioning in a review. It probably wouldn't affect the rating, however.

I checked with our Webmasters about archiving restaurant reviews online. The bad news came back that they don't archive any of the regional weeklies (New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island, Westchester) and have no plans to do so. A question of manpower, they say. , but there you have it. If you know the name of the restaurant, you can check it out by entering its name (and some delimiting info like the town) in the "Search" window at the top of the www.nytimes.com home page. If it's an older review, be sure to click on pulldown menu right next to the Search window and change "Past 30 days" to "Since 1996." There appears to be no fee for calling up a review. David