Welcome: David Lee

IT'S on this weekend, it's at the Sheraton in Edinburgh, and you can find out much more by having a peek at www.foodiesfestival.com

Beyond those basics, there's not much more I can say about Foodies at the Festival that isn't included in this smorgasbord of an issue. There are free tickets and prizes a-plenty as you will see all the way through to Page 7. Treat it as a finger buffet and taste as you go. But this is quality stuff – no stodgy sausage rolls or vapid vol-au-vents here.

What I would like to talk about today is the back page, Best of the Best, which re-emerged recently due to popular demand (maybe). In case of doubt, I would like to explain how this quirky little page works.

Its purpose is, to utilise one of my over-used Recommends phrases, to return to first principles. Some of you thought that we were getting a little offbeat (Best Song About a Horse, etc) so we decided to devote the back page, when possible, to the basic fare of Recommends – the categories that started us off. So we have fish and chips, golf courses, butchers and towns and sometimes walks, days out or things to do with the kids.

Readers can influence these categories by expressing their preferences – and top fives are amended as a result. In the fish and chip chart, always a reader favourite, L'Alba D'Oro in Edinburgh had been top for a while but constant recommendations for Anstruther Fish Bar in Fife hoisted it to No 1 in the fast food hit parade. Now the Doubting Thomases and Thomasinas have had their say and the AFB has been deposed from its perch, down one plaice to No 2. (That's enough fish puns – they're giving me a haddock). You get the picture – your views count. I swear by almighty Cod.