Some of us eat to live; the more fortunate (and, I think, rather unobjectively, the wiser) of us live to eat. Count me among the latter. And when I need a new restaurant, want to find the perfect empanada or needed some grist during my brief stint as a restaurant critic in Philadelphia, I turn to the food world’s personal personal media prototype: Chowhound.

Chowhound’s the site for the non-foodie, the person who might love foie gras and caviar and wants to try every one of Thomas Keller’s new restaurants but wouldn’t hesitate to pass up a $100 a plate meal if they found the perfect dim sum joint. (Philly residents — try Joy Tsin Lau. It’ll change your life, and even here in New York I miss it like crazy.)

The point of the site, essentially, isn’t that different from SMITH’s motto — every foodie has a story, and if you need a recommendation for how to find a long-lost food love, you’re bound to hear plenty of those stories on Chowhound. But it’s long been distinctly low-tech (think Apple IIc here). Fortunately, CNET has ridden in like a white knight with a redesign. The Wall Street Journal has the story. The redesign won’t be ready for a month or so, but my mouth is watering already.

Anyone know where I can get a decent cheesesteak?