Kerry Heffernan, with her partner Wendy Levy, who have 35 combined years experience in the restaurant business, own Autumn Moon Café in Oakland, California. Heffernan has cheffed in some of the top restaurants in the Bay Area, including heading up the kitchen in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Here’s Heffernan’s Views:
“Well, I don’t know a lot about writing or criticism, but I know what I like. I like it when a food critic is also a good writer. I’d like to see reviewers speak about why they may have been disappointed in a meal from a basics perspective. In other words, was the dish executed the way it was described, was hot food served hot, seasoned, and balanced from first bite to the last? I’d like to see a more analytical approach. Many times I’ve been to a restaurant where I personally didn’t enjoy the food but I could appreciate the skill, imagination and hard work that went into the execution of the dish.”

Todd English currently has over a dozen restaurants spread between New England and Las Vegas. His Olives restaurant, which he opened in 1989, has been a consistent favorite in Boston. English is often seen on television, and is working on a new program called “Todd Cooks.” He is the author of The Olives Table, The Figs

Table, and The Olives Dessert Table. Here is what he had to say:
“The first thing to remember is that reviews are subjective. I have had good and bad reviews sometimes for the same restaurant, so you need to take it with a grain of salt. Sometimes the critics really annoy me, when they don’t understand the food and don’t do their research to learn about it. After all, it’s their job to educate themselves on a cuisine or ingredient. I tell my staff and myself that we don’t do what we do to please the critics. I got into this business because I love to cook and that will never change. It’s still the juice I live on.”

Sally Clarke owns Clarke’s Restaurant, a food shop by the same name and Clarke’s Bakery (wholesale) all in London. Sally Clarke has been actively involved in cooking since her early teens. After attending school in Guildford, followed by a diploma in hotel & catering at Croydon Technical College, she studied at the Cordon Bleu School in Paris.

This is her advice for Restaurant Critics:
“Please arrive at the restaurant in good heart and in a good mood with your partner/guest. As all criticism is “objective,” it is important that the reviewer views everything in the fairest light. It may be awful food, ghastly décor and appalling service, but at least the review would be written in good faith rather than with an axe to grind.

The Sicilian-born Nick Stellino, has published “Nick Stellino’s Family Kitchen, the companion to his PBS series which he is about to start filming. It will air in 2003. He first came to prominence with his PBS cooking show, “Cucina Amore” one of the most popular of all PBS cooking shows.

Stellino echoes Sally Clarke: “Critics need to relax, have a glass of wine...and also take into consideration what would the neighbors say about this restaurant - how does it fit into the community. I think they should write reviews so that people can understand what they are saying. Sometimes, I think they’re just trying to show how clever they are.”