Nancy Leson's blog, All You Can Eat, pays tribute today to this guy, John Hinterberger. No, he hasn't gone to that great Bus Tub in the Sky. He's still very much with us, some 17 years after "retiring" as a regular columnist, restaurant critic, and talk show host. Proof that there's life aplenty after the fromage is eaten and the tiramisù is cleared. (His recipe for clam spaghetti, by the way, is a classic.)

Without Hinterberger's clear-eyed, take-no-crap critiques, Seattle would still be a culinary wasteland, without baguettes or panini to feed us, without San Pellegrino or Ste. Michelle to slake our thirst. Without food blogs (kindled by his spirit) to guide us, we would have wandered another 40 years in the desert. Hint is truly our Moses; it's heartwarming that he made it through. Again.