Dave sent me this yesterday: We dream of a time when ostensibly disinterested food critics include in their reviews pertinent information from state health and safety inspection records. Then he says to go here.

It's the first time in 2008 that my gears have been turning at high speed (maybe that says something about the toll my holidays took). At question: Is it my job to evaluate the sanitation of a restaurant?

You go to someone's house for dinner. You see the host and hostess, their dining room, their kitchen, their countertops and dishtowels, cutting boards and burner pans. You see whether they have dirt under their nails. Their personal hygiene is apparent. Not so at a restaurant. Generally speaking, you don't see the man behind the curtain. You can assess the dining room, the service, the bathrooms, the menu AND THE FOOD ON THE PLATE.

I've worked in kitchens. I know some of the less-than-palatable practices that routinely occur. I know when not to order the seafood frittata (see Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential). Because restaurants so often work at a tight profit margin, liberties are sometimes taken with foodstuffs that might not be taken at home with Mom at the helm. After 16 years of reviewing restaurants, I know a few things:

• Not all kitchens are clean
• Not all kitchen workers are scrupulous about hand washing, cross-contamination, storing food at proper temperatures, etc. Many believe in the Five Second Rule (see Julia Child).
• If you eat out often, you will very occasionally get food poisoning. It will probably not kill you.

Next big question: Are health inspections an accurate reflection of cleanliness in a professional kitchen? I have over the years followed a number of well-publicized restaurant closures (such as this one) and I know that there are arbitrary elements to a health inspection. There is an element of chance. It doesn't occur frequently enough to necessarily reflect what a restaurant does or fails to do on a daily basis.

I could go on. Dave, what you've got me thinking is that I should follow along with a local health inspector for a couple of days and evaluate whether they are doing a good job. Then I can assess whether health inspection information is valuable to my readers.