According to Digital Journal... Mr. Bruni comes to us from Rome where he was not the local “expert” on Italian cuisine; he wrote about politics. In fact, there hasn’t been a real food critic with food background (except perhaps Amanda Hesser) at the New York Times since Ruth Reichl

This seems quite a valid a grievance by a restauranteur who didn't approve of many reviews about his business, but, do the credentials of "experts" really matter? Looking at the UK for clues, the evidence suggests, not!

Shuffle out the dead wood

So many times, Governments have re-shuffles when adulterous Ministers for Transport suddenly head the Ministry for Food. Out of sight out of mind, the politicos learn on the job and screw up until they get it right. Nobody seems to mind too much.

London Dome disaster

The same policy of mis-match was evident when the UK Government employed a French guy to turn around the London Millennium Dome disaster. Millions over budget, thousands under daily visitor numbers, and constantly under the press spotlight, the Brits needed help. Pierre somebody-or-other had cut his teeth reviving some disastrous Mickey Mouse funfair in Paris - DisneyWorld Paris! Good enough for the French, he was flown in to save UK credibility in the world of major projects. Oops.

He enthusiastically took his expertise in the marketing of cartoon characters and doughnuts and applied it to a dead duck prestigious mickey mouse idea in the London docklands. Unfortunately, no amount of fanfare could right the wrongs of years of mismanagement, and ultimately the analysts had to accept that the Dome failure was nothing to do with Pierre's expert failings. Would even a Dome expert have fallen flat on his face? Probably, although we will never know.

Italian food critics are ten a penny

But what we do know about the right person for the job in the case of food critics is that everybody knows something about eating. And in the case of Italian food critics, find me a writer who has never consumed spaghetti or pizza, and that would be a story.