Doubting Greg Cox

For multiple years, I felt that Greg Cox, the News & Observer's restaurant critic, did a fine job of evaluating local restaurants.  At one point, he even had the guts to make his rating system tougher, because our restaurants had improved, and I applauded the move.

For quite a while now, though, I've found him frequently deeply inaccurate, to the point that I became nervous at the thought of trying a restaurant on his recommendation.

Now, though, he's either gone completely off his nut by picking The Durham as the restaurant of the year, or my experience at that place was a fluke.

I'm honestly hoping for the latter, because my meal there was so mediocre (and worse, for some of our group) that I cannot understand how he can applaud The Durham.  How that place can win restaurant of the year above Panciuto, for example, baffles me.  I've never tasted a dish at Panciuto that was as bad as the best dish I ate at The Durham.

Mr. Cox, I don't know you, but I have to say that you are losing the trust of me and every foodie I know.

I'm now wrestling with whether to give The Durham another shot.  If I do and the meal is as bad as my first experience, I'll be done with reading Cox's reviews, much less trusting them.