The Zagat guide to Diageo-approved restaurants

By me, in today's SF Chronicle: (yes, I wrote most of the Wine Section today)

Zagat Survey launched the iDrinkWell.com Web site this week as a "guide to finding restaurants that not only serve great food but are also dedicated to serving you the highest quality drinks." Though not currently advertised on the site (iDrinkWell forwards to a Zagat microsite), iDrinkWell is a collaboration between Zagat Survey and international liquor company Diageo. The venues chosen for the site (61 in the entire Bay Area) must be Zagat-rated and must have participated in a Diageo-sponsored training program.

No cocktail bars make the list yet, though Zagat publishes a separate nightlife guide. So the venues on the site (ranging from Absinthe to Yosemite's Ahwahnee Dining Room) are all restaurants listed alongside ratings by a company associated with objectivity.

A Zagat representative said, "There are completely different criteria for this program versus the traditional Zagat recognition program." No kidding.

For more information on this ludicrous collaboration that should make you swear to never use a Zagat guide again, read this industry story on Diageo's future plans for the program.

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