A Critic in Your Back Pocket: Welcome to Virginia Miller's The Perfect Spot Substack

Hello, Fellow Lovers of Food, Drink and Culture!

***Links here to three free sample articles: on my ethos, a local San Francisco restaurant review and my deep dive guide to Ecuador.***

As many of you know, I’m a San Francisco-based writer, editor, judge and consultant in food, drink, cocktails, spirits and culture worldwide. I’ve spent nearly two decades professionally writing, judging, consulting—though my hunger for understanding these worlds goes back to growing up in four states, both coasts and the middle, and being an insatiable reader with equally insatiable curiosity (my bio here).

Beyond writing, I serve as judge, lead judge, chairperson and committee member for many of the biggest dining, bar and spirits awards worldwide — some public, some confidential. I don’t “just” judge: I also often select and manage judges and panels. I consult across the industry, from leading tastings and honing menus to developing spirits from the ground up (stay tuned for my upcoming consultancy website).

Me in Sicily on the Aeolian Island of Salina, where my great-grandfather is from (the neighboring island of Lipari is where my great-grandmother is from

Why Substack?
Journalism is under siege. Expertise is too often sidelined in favor of what’s superficial and clickworthy, stripped of context, depth. Social media, with its pluses, has dumped expertise and knowledge in favor of shallow, momentary buzz. While I’ve written for over 60 publications globally, served as a food and drink editor from Zagat to the Bay Guardian, and still write columns worldwide, the media landscape keeps shrinking.

Many surviving outlets (understandably) rely on clickbait, sometimes asking writers like me to produce content that contradicts my ethos to support, not tear down, small businesses, food, drink and its tireless industry. All this with zero expenses covered for pay that often doesn’t even cover tip.

Like many, I’ve reached a crossroads where this content cannot continue without your dear support. Thus, my Substack, where I can tell it to you my way, with soul, heart and decades of experience and research expertly judging and tasting literally hundreds of thousands of things.

More about my ethos here, but in short: I champion excellence, celebrate what’s underrated, provide kind-yet-constructive critique, and, if a place falls short entirely, I choose not to write about it as there’s too much goodness to tell you about. I seek to honor, celebrate and learn from the cultures behind our best places and products.

What You'll Find Here (A Critic in Your Back Pocket)
This Substack has been in the works awhile, an evolution from my longtime newsletter/blog since 2007, The Perfect Spot. Here, you’ll find my guides and “best ofs”, my usual deep dives and obsessive firsthand research. As always, I’ll share standout eats, restaurants, cocktail bars, cafes and hotels. But here, I’ll go further: exploring cultural insights, moments of learning and recommendations in music, film, poetry, even charitable giving, specific to places and people I’m writing about.

I never recommend anything I haven’t personally vetted and visited, spending endless hours studying, researching, tasting everything, distilling high points for you, just as I do when judging “the best” for awards globally. A critic in your back pocket, if you will.

Whether you’re traveling vicariously or seeking firsthand recommendations for your next adventure (or in your home city), I hope you’ll find plenty here that resonates. And I’m for hire to personally customize your recommendations, lead tastings, etc.

Why It Matters
I believe in the power of ardent, on-the-ground journalism rooted in knowledge and context. Without it, we risk losing expertise and voice for our most beloved industries, traditions, sustenance and art forms, like food and drink.

I approach this work not just with a writer, judge, expert, critic’s eye but with a lover’s passion. As I wrote when I first launched my blog 18 years ago: “Let me guide you to the perfect spot” — and along the way, I humbly hope to deepen your appreciation for what you taste, who serves you… and for the world.

However, few pay for content while most writers cannot make a basic living wage, much less healthcare, sick days or basic benefits. So every bit of support is crucial to survival and to quality content still being out there. My heartfelt thanks for your support of writers with expertise and love for this industry that ever struggles but never dies.

Finché c'è vita, c'è speranza (As long as there is life, there is hope),
Virginia

Sunset planting a tree hillside on the Galapagos Islands at Pikaia Lodge

Subscription options:
—Free subscribers (thanks for being here!): A one-time only annual “best new openings” in December. I’d love to have you join for the regular run, if you can spare it.
—U.S. and World subscribers ($8 per month/$96 annually): Bi-weekly articles plus occasionally more articles, covering everywhere but the SF Bay Area.
—SF Bay Area subscribers ($9 month/$108 annually): Whole package — weekly SF Bay Area, plus all US and World articles. Make sure to choose “SF Bay Area” subscription, otherwise monthly and annual subscriptions are rest of the U.S. & World only.

Housekeeping: Check your spam folder and mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If the newsletter isn’t in your spam folder, look in your Promotions tab on Google email.