When reporter Blair Anthony Robertson wrote his introductory autobiography for colleagues as he joined The Bee nine years ago, he began:
"If I were going to the electric chair, my last meal would be a smoked barbecue sandwich from Country's in Opelika, Ala. Dessert would be chocolate cake and ice cream smushed together like I have been doing since I was 4. Then I would have a glass of 2% milk. I hear they put a $50 limit on the meals. If they didn't, I would also have six martinis from Morton's."
Robertson isn't going to the electric chair, but he soon will occupy another hot seat, as The Bee's new restaurant critic.
Cathie Anderson, The Bee's features editor, announced Robertson's appointment following a tryout dinner, sample review and interviews involving in-house candidates who had sought the position.
Robertson, a native of Ottawa, Canada, earned a degree in English at Augusta State College (now University) in Georgia before embarking on a career as a newspaper reporter in 1987.
He's an avid home cook, Frank Sinatra fan, book collector, cyclist and golfer whose preferred writing instrument is a fountain pen he fills from a bottle.
As The Bee's restaurant critic, he succeeds me, who has held the post from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1994 until today. I recently accepted The Bee's voluntary buyout offer and will leave the paper at the end of the week.
