Today in restaurant news: Brandon Baltzley gets a permanent job, some hard-to-get tables join OpenTable and Chicago restaurants (including one not open yet) make Esquire's Best New Restaurants List. more ›

Chicago restaurants are finally back in the spotlight. Can you hear the sarcasm dripping from our fingers? Last year, Esquire's John Mariani didn't deem any Chicago restaurants worthy for inclusion into his list of the "Best New Restaurants of 2009." Several standouts made his "also-ran" list, including the Bristol, the Publican and Sepia, but it was a swing and a miss for Chicago restaurants as far as Mariani was concerned. Given longtime suspicions of Mariani concerning objectivity and pay for play, we doubt many Chicago chefs were losing sleep over their absence. more ›

For many food writers, the mere mention of the name John Mariani is enough to raise hackles and raise voices in protest. The "food and travel correspondent" for Esquire makes for an easy target with his byline at Esquire, Wine Spectator and Bloomberg News, ostentatious prose and numerous accusations of questionable ethics, including one instance relayed by moto's Homaru Cantu that's now become legend. more ›