The debate about whether or not diners should photograph their food is nothing new. The should we, shouldn't we game is old news—the point is that people are. Lots of them. All the time. They are posting to Facebook, to Twitter, to their own blogs. The Times detailed the trend in a long piece yesterday, an obsessives gallery par excellence. Here at 7x7, we're of the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" school of thought, which is why when we released our Big Eat list back in February, we partnered with Foodspotting, challenging our biggest eaters to keep a visual record of all of the dishes from the list that they tried. (It appears the Chronicle just decided to do the same thing with their 100 Best Restaurant list—what's that about imitation and flattery?). Some 378 people have taken up the Big Eat photograph charge, and we get reports all the time from our friends working at restaurants around town, who tell us that a steady stream of big eaters—cameras in tow—descend on the restaurant every shift they work, ordering the signature item that made our list. This makes me really happy, to imagine 378 people trying pho at Turtle Tower for the first time, or bugging Daniel Hyatt at the Alembic for an old-fashioned (sorry, Daniel!).

And because the response to that list has been so enthusiastic, we're also working on a new, top-secret 'Little Eat' to whet your appetite while you wait for the next batch of 100. Stay tuned.