MANILA, Philippines - Restaurants, like movies, have critics. These are people who go around and rate the quality of the ?restaurant experience,? individuals who determine whether an establishment deserves one, two, three or four stars. The objective is to provide the reader with a guide as to whether the restaurant is worth visiting or not, and what to expect. Unlike public relations articles, where everything?s always coming up roses, the critic?s review is meant to give the readers an honest evaluation of what he or she experienced over dinner.

To be honest in your review, it is important that you do not feel indebted to the owners, managers or PR handlers of the restaurant, and that you walk in not as a guest of the owner but as an ordinary paying consumer. This way, your review is not biased, owing to a sense of gratitude. It also gives you a more honest sense of whether the pleasure of the meal is worth the pain in the pocket.

I understand that the general practice in this country is otherwise. Writers often dine upon the invitation of the restaurant owner, whereupon management is at its best behavior for the VIP guest during that one meal, resulting in as sweet a ?review? in the papers soon after. I know because I?ve had my fair share of invitations. I believe that this is a result of years of such practice (a restaurant is a business after all), a culture of pakikisama (peer pressure), and most of all, a bad economy. When you are torn between spending your P2000 on a fine dining experience or on a full tank of gas?a decision which both the individual and the publisher have to make?the free meals morph from unwelcome baits to welcome perks.

Fortunately for this writer?and this may sound self-serving for the paper but it?s true?SIM puts a premium on integrity, so meals featured in this column are not paid for by the restaurant under review. Which has allowed the column to respond positively to the dare, especially from silent critics and food bloggers (whom I believe are some of the best?and harshest!?critics out there), of a truly honest review.

Apparently, the issues against the biased critic and the inaccurate review are not exclusive to the Philippines. Tan Su-Lyn, former managing director of Wine and Dine, one of Asia?s most respected food magazines, and author of Lonely Planet?s World Food Malaysia & Singapore and Inside the Southeast Asian Kitchen: Foodlore and Flavors, reflects, ?Asia does not currently have a credible, independent and respected system through which restaurants are evaluated across the region and the very best given the credence due to them. Europe and America both have their own frameworks and systems.?

So Aun Koh, also a highly respected Singapore-based food writer and photographer, and incidentally Su?s ?chubby hubby? (chubbyhubby.net), decided to initiate the creation of such a system, also in the hopes of exposing to the world Asia?s most competitive restaurants, that may not have been receiving enough publicity in the west to merit being included in the list of World?s Best Restaurants. (Restaurant Magazine, a London-based publication, annually ranks the Top 100 Restaurants in the World. Aun Koh and Tan Su-Lyn have been in the jury for the past few years. This writer joined the jury for World?s Best Restaurants in 2007 and 2008.)

The result is The Miele Guide, Asia?s first truly independent restaurant guide. It?s a booklet that will rank Asia?s Top 20 best restaurants annually and feature in-depth profiles of these restaurants, plus a select list of other top restaurants in the region, categorized by country, city and cuisine. The guide aims to set a new standard in the Asian culinary sphere by setting a benchmark for measuring the best restaurants in the region.

It?s a gargantuan task and an ambitious project, but if there?s anyone that can pull this off, and with style, it?s this couple and their Ate team (Ate Media is the company publishing the guide). Already, it looks like the Miele Guide will be the restaurant guide for Asia in the years to come. More than anything, this is because of the credibility attached to the process involved to make it to the Top 20 list. The Ate team ("pity the fool!?) insists on several rounds of judging. The first round gathers inputs from 84 of Asia?s most influential and respected critics. The second and third rounds will be conducted simultaneously via online polls that will run (for this year?s Top 20) from May 15 to the end of July 2008 at the website www.mieleguide.com. The second round is open to everyone who registers at the website. In addition, a select jury of respected foodies and food and wine professionals across Asia will be invited to place their votes for the third round of judging. Voters will be asked to cast their votes for a specific number of restaurants in their own countries and a larger number of restaurants outside their respective countries. If a voter wants to nominate a restaurant that does not appear on the shortlist, he or she may do so. The final evaluation will be made by the Miele Guide?s in-house editorial team and contributing editors, who will visit all of the top-ranked restaurants anonymously in order to verify the voting results.

The Philippines is among the 16 Asian countries whose restaurants will be scrutinized. (I?m guilty of being a contributing editor for the first round and nominated my 20 best for the Philippines.) Thankfully (and finally!), this will put some of our restaurants on the map. Hopefully, some of our restaurants will make it to the list of the best in Asia. I really hope our readers?especially the bloggers (the real critics), blog readers, Friendsters, Multipliers, Facebookers?will actively participate in the second round of voting that will be open to anyone interested (and who registers at the website, www.mieleguide.com). As a perk, voters even get the chance to win an all-expense paid meal at the top-ranked restaurant in Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo, plus a stay in one of Asia?s most luxurious hotels!

But what?s most important here is the desire of the Miele Guide to give deserving restaurants due recognition. Aun has written in his blog, ?[W]e understand that the final results might stir up some controversy, (but) we?re ready for it. Most importantly, if it gets the world talking about the restaurants in this part of the world, if it gets people passionately debating the merits of Asia?s top ranked restaurants to the point where their names become as recognizable as El Bulli, Fat Duck and French Laundry, then we have done our job. After all, our goal is not to antagonize specific restaurateurs or put others down. Our goal is to create a standard of evaluation and a standard of recognition that can really help promote Asia?s best restaurants to the world.?

I personally believe that Gaita Fores or Ariel Manuel can compete with other Iron Chefs. And I wish that their efforts would be recognized internationally, too. So this effort by the Ate team in creating The Miele Guide, which may be our key to bringing attention to Asian fine dining, is really an important milestone in Asian culinary and food writing history and I hope our readers support it too. The results of the voting will be announced in October 2008 when the Miele Guide is launched.

Oh, as a last note, as an independent guide, The Miele Guide will not accept any advertising or sponsorship, nor any free meals, from any of the restaurants reviewed.