Restaurant critics review new restaurants so that we, the public, know if they’re worth a visit. Surprisingly, the critics seldom seem to regard themselves as having special powers of taste, according to Tim Smith, himself a restaurant critic. He says a good critic is always clear about what their job is – to attract readers to the newspapers or websites which publish their articles, not advertise restaurants. ‘What I write has to be a gripping read, it’s not about the finer points of cooking,’ he says. ‘There are people out there who know more about food than I do, but reading their stuff puts you to sleep.