And Then There Was the Time That the Chronicle May or May Not Have Accidentally Run a Photo of Michael Bauer

The photo you see here is taken from the SFGate photo page of the Bong Su review from way back when, and a very insistent tipster argues that the Chronicle photographer serendipitously showed up at the same time as—and subsequently accidentally caught the image of—none other than Mr. Michael Bauer. Suffice to say, operations at Eater HQ have ground to a halt as we've tried to dissect the issue. We can't imagine the Chronicle (or SFGate) could fuck up as royally—or hilariously—as this, but given the state of media these days, there's one word that says it all: you never know.

Upon much inspection, it certainly could be the Bauermeister along his regular dining partner, but then again, the photo is blurry enough that the silhouettes could also be George Bush and Captain Kirk. What's more, there are an awful lot of factors at play for it to actually go down (i.e., that MB didn't file the photo request himself, that he let the photog in while there, etc. etc.), and even if they all fell into place perfectly, common sense says that the photo wouldn't have stayed online for long, let alone over a year. Conclusion? It's highly dubious, but again, not impossible.

In any event, as you can tell from the list of the media world's preeminent food writers in line to replace The Big Bad Bruni, Bauer has done a rather impressive job of keeping his face off the internet in his 20+ years atop the local food chain. So, needless to say, the hunt for Bauer photos ... is very much on.

And away we go.
· BruniBetting: So, Who'll Replace King Brunz? [~ENY~]