Last week, we noticed both the Guardian Examiner and SFWeekly published reviews of Nojo - a new farm fresh, Japanifornian joint in Hayes Valley. The duplication isn't really anything to write home about — food writers are constantly trying to beat each other to the punch which can lead to pile-ups. But add in Chronicle Food Czar Michael Bauer's Sunday review and now you've got yourself an awkward seating arrangement. How embarrassing!

The cumbersome week in reviews prompted the Weekly's Jonathan Kauffman to examine exactly how this sort of foodmedia travesty could have occurred, finally offering the following formula to predict a triple-review week:

Measure the restaurant's buzz quotient by the number of pre-opening posts food blogs like Eater, Grub Street, and SFoodie file. Factor in the number of high-profile competitors opening at the same time -- this summer, for example, we had a glut of high-profile restaurants (so duplication rarely happened, let alone triplication), while that number has slowed way down this winter.

So blogs and the economy are to blame, basically.

Adding to the Nojo pile-on, the print edition of 7x7 that landed in inboxes around town earlier this week also features a glowing review of Nojo (although it's a re-hash of a web piece). Penned by someone who once said San Francisco has too many food blogs, no less. Hopefully, no one's ego got devoured in the feeding frenzy.

[SFoodie]
[7x7 Archives]
[GrubStreet]