Dining 2008: The year in blogs

Exclusives! First looks! Blockbusters! A month-by-month recap.

Once, they might have been dismissed as desperate gourmands with too much time on their hands, but food bloggers these days wield serious clout in NYC's dining scene. Powered by armies of commenters and tipsters, blogs like Eater, Grub Street and The Strong Buzz report on everything from chef firings to closures—and review their every bite, from amuse to dessert. Why wait for the papers these days when tipsters break the big news? 

Here's a month-by-month, blow-by-blow recap of some of the year's most notable stories reported by the blogs. —Jacqui Gal

Illustration by Steve Reidell