More acid quills:

- Terry was not alone in his touch up of other restaurant guides. Lethlean made little attempt to hide his disdain for the Elite Traveler's top 100 restaurant list. He was shooting fish in a barrel, with the mag a (self-proclaimed) “private jet lifestyle magazine” and the list is a poll of its readers. "I’m guessing this would be the staff of people who own private jets … So if you want to dine with international pilots and PAs eating on the boss’s dime, you know where to head.” I do concur that the five Aussie restaurants were predictable, which is not shocking for an international list (Marque, Vue de Monde, Quay, Attica and Tetsuya’s). But Lethlean wasn't done there, following up with: "In many ways, the list’s top 10 per cent looks suspiciously like the more credible, method-driven, S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best."

- Simon Thomsen also took a look at the list for Business Insider, noting that those five restaurants all dropped down the rankings: "The drop in the rankings comes despite an 18-month, $40 million campaign by Tourism Australia, called Restaurant Australia, which culminated in a $1.5 million dinner in Tasmania for 250 “influencers” last year." Ouch. Note Australia maintains her position as the 9th in the world.

- Finally, this week, we even had a reviewer come out of retirement to have a crack. Leo Schofield took down the bogans of Tasmania in this interview for the SMH. It's pretty funny and well worth a read, his critique of the Blue Angel's lobster looks mild in comparison.

A happy thought before parting:

- This month's Lucky Peach is a delight. To be fair, it had me at hello, opening with the best places to eat and shop in Paris, but then kept me close with Chad Robertson's (Tartine) articles on bread and pizza (plus other tales of wheat and grains), the history of chocolate (I'm a massive food history nerd), gnocchi three ways (the first, the best, the bastardised) and so much more. As I read I may review some bits and pieces, but I do suggest you buy it.