UPDATE! THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR THIS POSITION IS CLOSED! THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST!

Woe be unto us! It's my unfortunate duty to announce that our beloved Tony Perez will no longer be able to perform his weekly duties as the Merc's chief food critic, due to overwhelming pressures at his REAL job over at Tin House Publishing. (He's kind of a big deal over there.) HOWEVER! There are two pieces of good news here: 1) Tony will still be joining us now and then with his always excellent food and drink coverage, and 2) Some lucky person out there will become the Mercury's new chief food critic! HERE'S THE AD ANNOUNCING THAT!

WANTED: FOOD CRITIC/REVIEWER

The Portland Mercury is looking for a new food/restaurant/drink critic to add to our stable of great writers. COULD THAT BE YOU, OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW? Let's find out:

The successful candidate will have extremely strong and snappy writing skills, a passion for food and drink, and an intimate knowledge of the Portland restaurant scene. Reporting skills are a definite plus, as is prior food criticism experience.

Duties include writing one restaurant review per week for the print edition, and publishing at least three blog posts per week on Blogtown. This is a FREELANCE position which allows the candidate plenty of time to have other employment, and this person can choose their own hours—as long as deadlines are met.

Pay is $100 per week, and meals eaten for review purposes are paid for (within reason of course) by the Mercury.

Interested parties should email editor Wm. Steven Humphrey (put "FOOD CRITIC POSITION" in the subject line) and include the following:

• A cover letter describing why you're so awesome.
• A resume that includes pertinent experience.
• Up to six published food writing clips (blog posts are acceptable, as are PDFs and URLs). No published clips? NO PROBLEM. Send in a 600-word review of a place you've eaten at recently.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012.