Hey everyone, sorry for the week of radio silence. I’m Jim Webster, your new guide on this gastronomic odyssey. I thought I’d take the first couple of posts here to tell you a little about myself and what I plan to do in this role, both here on the blog and in the paper.

I’ve lived in the bay area for a little more than a decade, and it was here that I took up dining as a spectator sport. I started writing about some of my restaurant trips initially as e-mails to friends that had wanted to come along but couldn’t. Then I took those e-mails and turned them into a blog read by tens and tens of friends. Okay, maybe just tens. But along the way, I realized that I wasn’t chronicling the visits for anyone but me. I liked going back and reading about a 2003 trip to Spago, because it was like being there again.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret here, one that would tend to fly in the face of journalistic objectivity: When I walk in to a restaurant, I walk in with the hope that I will like it. I don’t walk in looking for things that are wrong, or not just so. I want to have a good time. I notice things, but I walk in giving the benefit of the doubt, and prepared to enjoy my time there. I can be critical, but that’s my job now, right there in the title. And the truth is, it is every diner’s job.

That’s it for now. I’m starving, and it’s lunchtime. I’ll be back tomorrow to talk more about what we’ll be doing here, and in the meantime, feel free to talk about what you want to see. My first review will be in the Taste section next Wednesday.

p.s.: the reason the blog went dark for a week between Laura leaving and me starting was that I was on a previously scheduled trip to the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. It was a little bit of work, a little bit of play and a lot of scenery. I’ll post on that soon.