Sly Restaurants: Well, I tend to agree that government inspections are iffy in their efficacy, but certainly if there weren't any inspections, I don't know that that would be a good thing either. Maybe we should allow the two markets to exist. Licensed ones would obviously be more expensive for the consumer (as they are for the restauranteur), but they would have the benefit of offering "cleared" product (and don't forget it's not just the food, but the physical plant as well that is declared "safe") and could then hire the celebrity chef. Then you'd have the mom-and-pop places or back-door soup kitchens where there is no pretense of "legitimacy" but you get literally home-cooked food at low prices. Then when you sued for food poisoning, the defense lawyer would simply say: "Well, you knew this was an unlicensed restaurant, didn't you?"

As Eno would say:"Let the market sort it out."