Cork and Curve exists to help readers eat well. We treat that as a responsibility, not a tagline. These are the rules we apply to every piece we publish.
1. No paid placements in editorial
No restaurant, bar, market, hotel, or tour operator can pay to be included, ranked, or featured in our editorial. There is no PR-pitched inclusion. There is no "affiliate priority" ranking.
2. Comped meals and press visits
Editors and correspondents may, at their own discretion, accept comped meals or press visits in the course of research. If they do, the piece discloses it in the byline area or in a note at the bottom. A comp does not buy a positive verdict. A comped meal that disappointed gets written up that way.
3. Affiliate links
We may include affiliate links to booking partners (for example, hotel or tour operator partners). Affiliate revenue plays no part in editorial selection. If a partner property is bad, it gets that verdict and the affiliate link goes away.
4. Sourcing
Every restaurant, bar, market and dish we recommend has been visited by either the named editor of record or a named correspondent. We do not aggregate from other publications.
5. Updates and corrections
Every chapter shows an "Updated" stamp at the top. If a place closes, changes hands, drops in quality, or otherwise warrants a new verdict, we update the page and stamp it. Material corrections are called out at the bottom of the affected page.
6. AI assistance
We use AI tools to help with research synthesis, copy edits, and structural drafting. We do not publish AI-generated content as editorial. Every claim of fact on this site has a named human editor who has verified it.
7. Conflicts of interest
Editors disclose to the desk any personal relationship with a restaurateur, chef, or operator they are writing about. Where the relationship is material, the piece is reassigned.
8. Scoring methodology
Every restaurant, bar, market, dish, itinerary and other entry on Cork and Curve carries an editorial score between 1.0 and 5.0, shown as "★ 4.3" next to the entry name. The score is the Cork and Curve editorial verdict, derived from many inputs:
- External reputation. published reviews, independent press, food-critic writeups, the Michelin Guide and Le Fooding where relevant, and the patterns visible across diner reviews (volume and recency, not just star averages).
- Recency. a place strong in 2022 but slipping today scores lower than its legacy reputation would suggest. We weight sources from the last eighteen months.
- On-the-ground reporting. first-hand visits and local correspondent notes outrank aggregated star averages.
- Editorial judgment. distinctiveness, canonical execution of a category, and how essential the place is to its city's food scene.
We do not cache or display source ratings (Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.). The number you see is ours. A place scoring 5.0 is defining, essential, and would change the city's food story if it vanished. 4.5 to 4.9 is excellent. 4.0 to 4.4 is a strong recommend. 3.5 to 3.9 is a solid pick for the category. Below 3.0 places are rare, included only when category coverage requires breadth.
Reporting an issue
If you spot a factual error, a closed business, or anything that needs a correction, the contact page is the fastest way to reach the editorial desk.