How we decide a place is worth recommending

People assume there is a formula. There sort of is, but it is less exciting than it sounds. Most of it is subtraction: we visit far more places than make the guide, and the job is deciding what to remove.

The first test is whether we would go back on our own money. Not whether it was good, not whether it photographs well, but whether we would return on a normal Tuesday. That alone removes about half of everything.

The second is whether it works for someone who does not live there. A brilliant spot that only takes bookings a month ahead, or only opens for three hours on Thursdays, is not useful to someone with four days in the city. It might still get a mention, but it will not lead a section.

The third is price honesty. We are not against expensive places, we are against places that are expensive without a reason. If the bill surprises you at the end, it goes.

We also try to spread a list geographically. Twelve recommendations in one neighbourhood is a guide to that neighbourhood, not to a city. Every list gets checked against a map before it ships.

Then there is the boring part: verifying. Opening hours change, chefs leave, places close. We revisit and re-check before every update, and things get pulled without ceremony when they slip.

None of this is complicated. It is just slow, and being slow is the only real edge left when everyone else is publishing lists they have never visited.