Critically Critical of Critic's Critic

I was a bit surprised that the grand old daddy of Chicago food bloggers, Paul of Foodblog, was not included in today's Chicago Tribune report of bloggers and their pics. Paul surely shoots with the best of 'em. So, I go there this morning to see what the Trib's been missing, and I find this link to a critical analysis of Chicago food critics.

Now, surely the world of Chicago food critics could use some criticism no? Granted, the Phil Vettel Game's been mostly retired as he seems to be working harder with the new At Play section, but could a review of food critics not notice the weeks that pass without Vettel action? What about the failure of the biggies to cover ethnic and neighborhood eating--consigning these to the hyper-segmented Cheap Eats reviews for instance.

What's worse, is this piece seems oddly, weirdly, out of date. It's been a while since Laura Levy Shatkin's pieces were the leads in the Reader's restaurant reviews. Worse, how could a critic's critic not love last week's Reader take-down of Mulan in Chinatown. In fact, the fact that the Reader gives you the good the bad and the ugly in dining options a reason to cheer it on? Or Time Out Chicago, again, you have range and variety that's not noted. Is not James Ward gone. Did he ever matter given his obviousness? Who reads or cares about Sherman Kaplan or "biweekly student newspaper Chicago Business."

The food media in Chicago can use a critic.