The Wine Knows

I check over a number of blogs daily, primarily dealing with food, wine, high-tech, journalism and some foreign lands in which I'm interested. I'm not much into the big political blogs, primarily because I don't care for the sniping that goes on between those of the red state/blue state persuasions.

However, in the past couple of months, I've been watching a virtual food fight going on between a couple of Seattle writers - and I'm only slightly ashamed to admit I've enjoyed the battle.

I know both of the combatants, which makes it even more interesting.

Two years ago, I met Ronald Holden, who writes the widely read Cornichon blog, which focuses primarily on the Seattle food scene. Ronald was at our annual Platinum Dinner at Seattle's Columbia Tower Club. We had a nice chat, and I've enjoyed reading his blog since.

Leslie Kelly, recently a food critic for the Seattle P-I, writes a blog called Whining and Dining. She has written a similar column for the Spokane Spokesman-Review as well as the Commercial-Appeal in Memphis, Tenn. Leslie grew up in my hometown of Bremerton, Wash., and she and I have caught up with each other many times at various Northwest wine events.

Between the two, you can get a pretty good flavor for what's going on in the Seattle food scene. But the two don't appear to like each other. Ronald takes no small delight in pointing out what he doesn't like about her writing in the P-I or her blog, and she tends to fight back in the comments.

I feel kind of voyeuristic enjoying the whole thing, but it certainly is spicing up the Seattle food blogging scene.