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Pete Wells

I write with opinion and analysis about all kinds of restaurants serving all kinds of cuisine in all kinds of neighborhoods for all kinds of prices. I’m interested in finding places that stand out for some reason, and putting them in a context that will help you make sense of the experience they provide, or try to provide. (I will also tell you whether the place is any good.)

In choosing subjects, my immediate goal is finding a restaurant people will want to read about; in the longer term, I seek a mix of places that are diverse in location, cuisine, price and sensibility. To find them, I follow news of openings, look at online reviews and photographs, prowl the streets and eat in far more restaurants than I write about.

Once I decide to review a restaurant, I try to taste everything on the menu. When that’s not practical, I aim for a sample large enough to be representative. Although employees sometimes recognize me, I never use my name or The Times’s when making reservations, dining or paying. I don’t wear wigs and other disguises. In my experience, they aren’t very effective. (Times Insider wrote a short article about my approach to reviewing in 2022.)

Before becoming the restaurant critic in 2012, I spent six years as the editor of the Food section, which back then was called Dining. I persuaded Melissa Clark and David Tanis to write columns that are still running today. I also wrote a column for the Times Magazine called Cooking With Dexter, about my life in the kitchen with my young son. Before coming to The Times, I was an editor at magazines including Food & Wine, where I wrote a column called Always Hungry.

I don’t accept invitations to restaurants, and The Times pays for all my review meals. I don’t make friends with chefs, owners or other people I cover. And I try to write about restaurants that don’t have the resources to hire publicists to attract media attention. All Times journalists are committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook.

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