General
I started writing about food in 2010 when I founded my website. Before that, I had been taking a serious interest in restaurants and in cooking for more than a decade and many people had said to me that I “really ought to do something with all that knowledge". When the New York based photographer Dana Lixenberg, whom I met in 2009, became the umpteenth person to say so, unwittingly she gave me the final push and before I knew it, I had started ElizabethOnFood.com.
Restaurant reviews feature prominently on my website. I don’t review every restaurant that I visit. Furthermore I limit myself to restaurants that are relevant to an international readership. I mainly focus on Michelin starred restaurants in Europe. Just for interest you will find a full list of relevant restaurants I have visited in the past years at the bottom of my website – may I call it my restaurant CV?
I find it very important to write objectively and independently. The costs that are involved with my restaurant visits I therefore pay for myself entirely. I would also like to stress that my restaurant reviews are an account of my personal experience during my visit. Someone else’s experience, preference or opinion may therefore be different. I evaluate Michelin starred restaurants according to their category (* very good cooking in its category, **exceptional cooking, worth a detour and *** exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey). In my reviews I prefer not to compare a restaurant with other restaurants; I like to see every restaurant for what it is individually.
The Michelin section on ElizabethOnFood features news articles on the annual Michelin Guides and articles about Michelin in general.
I am also very active on Twitter and I tweet daily about food and restaurant news.
What, you may ask, is the motivation for all this, sometimes frantic, activity? I guess it is a love of beauty – in its culinary incarnation – and also an insatiable appetite for learning about the culinary cultures and traditions of the countries of Europe.
Restaurants & Hotels
The costs that are involved with my restaurant and hotel visits I pay for myself entirely. I do not accept nor do I seek any subsidy, in any form, from anybody, as I wish to avoid any potential conflicts of interests.
I rate restaurants on a 100-point scale:
Extraordinary (96-100)
Outstanding (93-95)
Very good to excellent (89-92)
Average to good (85-88)
Below 85 - below average
60 points are awarded just for switching on the lights and serving me food
Books & Wine
I pay for all the books I review on my website. However, I do not return advance copies of new releases that may be sent to me by publishers. If I happen to like one, I may write about it. The principles of the wine section are the same.
Contact me
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