This book is the first of its kind to examine what defines fine food in America and it introduces us to many individuals who shape our views about food. Using other successful Dornenburg/Page books as a model, the authors once again base their analysis on interviews with chefs, restaurateurs and critics. This insider's guide to the process of restaurant reviewing will excite anyone with a serious interest in food. It also features top sites on the Internet that provide restaurant reviews. 'If I were a restaurateur, I would expect all my staff to read this book. As a restaurant critic, I found it a fascinating insight into the minds of other critics and more especially the minds of some of the people who are serious about running a restaurant.' Having written about all it takes to become a chef in Becoming a Chef , and about how those chefs do their work in Culinary Artistry , James Beard Award -winning authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page have turned their attention, with Dining Out , to the subject of restaurants and restaurant critics. Restaurant owners, chefs, and critics alike get their turn to discuss the mercurial world of restaurant criticism--is the restaurant critic a valiant consumer advocate or a villainous ruiner of careers and businesses? Dornenburg and Page interview 61 members of this "food intelligentsia" and offer the reader a snapshot of the process on either side of the kitchen door. New York Times critic Ruth Reichl notes, "I wake up in the middle of almost every night before a review is printed, agonizing over where the mistakes are.... I knew if I had called a turnip a rutabaga, my career was over." And chef Norman Van Aken says he believes "wholeheartedly in the idea of critical analysis, whether for books, movies, or restaurants. I just wish the public would understand that there are bad reviewers as well as bad reviews." Through interviews and research, Dornenburg and Page explore what it takes to become a critic, how the critics themselves feel about their power (not to mention what the restaurateurs feel), and the changing nature of what makes a great restaurant. The book is packed with great quotes from chefs and critics, and peppered with sidebars on such handy topics as how to work with a wine steward in a restaurant to achieve the wine experience you're looking for. A lengthy appendix lists critics' favorite restaurants in more than 20 cities, and the beautiful black-and-white photographs by Michael Donnelly evoke both the fun and serious sides of restaurant life. Dining Out will appeal to foodies who delight in the behind-the-scenes stories of both chef and critic, and to anyone who's ever wondered just who those restaurant critics are, anyway. Dornenburg and Page, coauthors of the award-winning Becoming a Chef (LJ 8/95) and Culinary Artistry (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996), move out of the kitchen and into the dining room, focusing on the restaurant critics whose opinions often determine where we dine on Friday night. While the authors demonstrate the same incisive culinary qualities as in their previous works, chapters and numerous sidebars on such topics such as "Cooking for Ruth Reichl" and spending a week in the restaurant lives of both Reichl and Gael Greene will hold little appeal for readers who aren't hard-core foodies. Mostly, the book presents food critics' comments about the review process as well as opinions from chefs and restaurateurs about the people who review them; like the Zagat guides, everyone gets to be a critic here. The book ends with a list of the top critics' favorite restaurants, a guide to restaurant review sources on the Internet, and biographies of interviewees, all fairly sugarcoated. Recommended only for specialized culinary collections due to some in-depth reporting and interviews with a few restaurant notables. Otherwise, "Where's the beef?"ADrew Ackers, New York Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Dornenburg and Page undertook extensive research--including interviews with more than 62 chefs, critics, and restaurateurs--to produce a labor of love. Through the authors' discriminating senses, readers and foodies alike learn the whos, whats, whys, and hows of criticism and how to be a discerning diner. Trivia buffs, too, will find this compilation alluring, with sidebars on such subjects as food on film, famous food lovers, and even the "weirdest things critics have ever eaten." Recommended for all libraries located within a seven-digit dialing area for one-star (or more) dining reservations. Appended are listings of some of America's leading critics' favorite restaurants and why, a guide to Internet reviews of restaurants in major markets around the world, and biographies of interviewees. Barbara Jacobs ...Dornenburg and Page have brought a generous curiosity and balance to a subject of compulsive interest to a growing number of people. -- The New York Times Book Review , Michael Ruhlman Andrew Dornenburg and Kare