IT BEGINS... AGAIN

I think that, despite the fact that Forest Hills does not have the same street cred with food that Astoria or Brooklyn do (sad but true), it has some truly great places to eat. In fact, it has more than some. It has plenty. But I wasn't about to water down eateryROW by clumping too many reviews in one neighborhood. Enter the spinoff as a natural solution.

I'd been toying with the idea of this local spinoff for a few months, but never really had enough of a reason to start it until recently. See, I just read the latest issue of the free neighborhood glossy Forest Hills Celebrity & Entertainment Magazine and knew that the time had come.

Here's my problem. I can't (and don't think others should) trust a review when the writer not only knows knows the owner of the restaurant, but tells that owner he's coming, dines with him, and then places an ad for that very restaurant in that same issue. It's a do-the-math thing. Sure, I'm just one guy with one guy's opinions and you can flush them down the toilet if you want to and think I'm wrong, but at least you'll know you're not reading an ad.

I'm not going to tell any of these restaurants I'm coming. I'm not going to eat with the chef. I'm not going to get free meals. I'm not going to stage photo ops. I'm not going to eat something that tastes like ass and praise it as amazing (unless it's supposed to taste like ass).

I will endeavor to keep these reviews as bullshit-free as I can. Forced-feeling flowery lingo that is so sticky-sweet you could barf will be reduced to a bare minimum.

Off to the side is a map link. On that map are all the restaurants I plan to review. Eventually, I'll get to all of them, though in no particular order. When that happens (or I move) this blog will come to it's natural conclusion.

In the meantime, let us raise our heavenly glasses to the heavens.