On Tuesday, July 16th, the frequently feared and much respected New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells announced that he would be stepping down from his widely known demanding role as the city’s go-to fine dining authority.
Wells published a simple statement in the paper of record: “After 12 years of reviewing restaurants, I’m leaving the table.” As a critic of the broadsheet for over ten years, Wells is stepping down after citing a recent physical showing relatively poor cholesterol, blood sugar, and hypertension results.
Wells wrote, “I’ve decided to bow out as gracefully as my state of technical obesity will allow.” The critic has stated plans to continue writing for the Times (though not in the same capacity) and will continue to publish a few more reviews before taking on the new role.
Wells held a considerable tenure of 12 years performing the esteemed—but often difficult—role that ultimately requires consistent weekly reviews of the most notable and newest New York City restaurants. The job also involves plenty of research for things such as annual rankings like “The Best 100 Restaurants in New York City.”
Impressively, Wells is the only New York Times restaurant critic to have remained in the role for over ten years after he started in November 2011. At the time, he replaced restaurant critic Sam Sifton, who had worked in the role for only two years prior, beginning in October 2009. Before Sifton—beginning in 2004—the founding editor of New York Times Cooking, Frank Bruni, served in the role.
Although some might not realize it, the job can be extremely taxing on both the critics’ mental and physical well-being. The role consists of work that former New York Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl (1993–1999) lays out in her memoir Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. From 1999 to December 2003, William Grimes worked in the role, succeeding Reichl and eventually yielding to Bruni.
Before serving as the restaurant critic, Wells spent his early career working as a senior editor at Food & Wine from 1999 to 2001. He won multiple James Beard awards during his time at the magazine for pieces such as Captain Bacon, which followed Scotch enthusiasts and fanatics. Wells also famously wrote a feature on four-star baby food.
In 2006, he became a dining editor at the Times, where he eventually evolved into the paper’s official New York restaurant critic. He has authored such classics as At Senior Frog’s in Times Square, it’s Spring Break Forever and a harsh takedown of Thomas Keller’s Per Se that gained popularity after he compared lukewarm matsutake mushroom bouillon to bong water.
Despite inherent job difficulties like disguising oneself to perform a critique, as Reichl famously wrote about, and taking in copious amounts of sugar, alcohol, cholesterol, and fat beyond what is recommended, the role is an important one for New York restaurants. The city has more than 50,000 eateries striving for success, so of course, being awarded four stars or even just one star by the New York Times restaurant critic, for many, is a ticket to reap the benefits of full dining rooms night after night.
