Montrealfood.com is the conception of one person, Nicholas Robinson (me.) There is no "team of designers." It's purely for my own amusement and has no affiliation with any official organisation and is not for profit.

Along the way, Barry Lazar has become an integral and indispensable part of montrealfood.com. Just getting him to even write one article has been a huge coup that I'm still slapping myself about—even though it's now been about 8 years. Barry is an institution in Montreal for which an award must be invented—and if it ain't invented, I'm going to invent it. You'll see. We are all enriched when Barry's fingers hit the keys.

A fellow we have mutually agreed to call “RestoSpy” has also become part of the team. We debated revealing his real identity but decided that since he invariably tackles the high end of the restaurant spectrum (a side-product of his work) it would be nicer if he could voice his opinions freely without fear of censure at the next place down at which he sits (yep, that’s the proper way to say it). Although just a regular guy in the everyday world, I think you’ll agree that he is a magnificent microscope through which to view our sometimes insufferable “haute” eateries. He never pulls punches and is never unkind or unfair, except when he comes over for dinner.

Another huge help is Shelley MacDonald, who, through a purely unselfish Z.O.L. (Zen Of Life) has seen it her obligation to show us Montreal’s food through the eyes of a (temporarily, we hope) visitor. Her sometimes acidic insights into the Montreal food experience are great eye-openers for jaded resto-goers all around town. Fun is always the day I dine with Shelley.

No one gets paid. After much discussion, we have agreed that the point here is to help other people have a good time when they go out and spend hard-earned money. What the hell, our money is going to be spent anyway because we love food, so why not write about it?

In addition, there are friends who participate in our strange taste tests, invite us to dinner just about everywhere (sometimes kindly picking up the tab) and otherwise contribute immeasurably to montrealfood.com’s survival. Always, our thanks to all of you.

In general, none of us is a foodie and none of us has any particular angle towards the food or restaurant industry.

I feel privileged to finally see my original dream of a totally non-biased source of info on food in Montreal come so totally alive in accordance with my original vision. I could not have asked for more.

—Nicholas Robinson March 2004

Photons courtesy of Hydro-Québec.