Zagats respond to Shaw

Tim and Nina Zagat respond in the L.A. Times to David Shaw's criticism last month of their restaurant guides. Say the Zagats:

Ever since we started asking diners to rate and review restaurants 24 years ago — in the process creating a series of bestselling guidebooks based on consumer opinion — one group has remained a tad uneasy about our success: professional food critics.

Shaw had complained that Zagat highly overrates restaurants and said he uses the guide for phone numbers and addresses. The rebuttal ran yesterday.