Some more random musings:
I've often wondered what some of my favorite critics looked like: (till Frank Bruni stopped writing about food, he was on the list as well)...Tom Sietsema looks rather hip.
cover blown:
http://eater.com/archives/2010/04/19/anonymous-restaurant-critics-field-guide.php

I dont really think that revealing these critics appearances is a big deal. My fascination with anonymous critics runs way back to the Michelin Man in Gerald Durrell's The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium.
This much more recent article on the respected, anonymous Michelin critics in the New Yorker was particularly fascinating.

I wonder if critics here have to go to lengths like disguising themselves (cf. TS of the WaPo) in the tiny RVA food scene...There seems to be a basic pecking order here and I'm guessing the restaurants here (the ones that care) are pretty tuned to the movements of these well known local critics.
I do place this whole enterprise in sharp contrast to those rather amusing restaurant reports on NBC12.

It is interesting that despite the recent democratization of restaurant reviews via (anonymous and not-so) blogs and yelp and chowhound and their ilk, many people still seem to prefer a "critical, authoritative" judgement on their restaurants. It will be interesting to see the evolution of this phenomena as times change. For example, Facebook just announcing its new features with Yelp that tell you which of your friends have been to a restaurant (and perhaps what they thought). This entire concept deserves more discussion that is, as so many technical speakers say "beyond the scope of this blog"

What an interesting concept: A day a week restaurant:
http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-day-week-restaurant.html
It would be nice to see some sort of culinary diversity in RVA with something like this. I can think of one place around that attempts something of the sort....only barely.