Pete Wells dishes on life as New York Times restaurant critic

Ryan Bartlow, the chef and co-owner of Ernesto's, a Basque restaurant in Manhattan, revealed the dirty little secret New York City restaurants don't like owning up to: Tucked in a cabinet above the service station was a photograph of Pete Wells, just in case a server suspected The New York Times restaurant critic might have been sitting a few feet away. Wells' photo was posted along with pictures of other food critics -- cheat sheets in the high-stakes game between restaurants out to spot reviewers and lavish them with special treatment, and reviewers out to remain anonymous.

After all, everything Bartlow put into his restaurant could have been destroyed by a bad review. "I don't want to say I was terrified," he said. "There's always a little bit of nerve, maybe your throat gets a little drier, or you're kind of a little bit more on edge."

WEB EXTRA: Restaurant critic Pete Wells: A face on the wall (YouTube Video)

Bartlow, we should tell you, had nothing to fear; Pete Wells gave him a great review in 2021 … and for the last two years, Ernesto's has been on The New York Times' "100 Best Restaurants of New York City" list (#43 in 2024).

After slipping into restaurants in all sorts of glasses; after concocting more than a hundred different aliases and paying with multiple credit cards; after eating out five nights a week since 2012, Pete Wells, arguably the world's most powerful restaurant critic, wrote on July 16 that he was done reviewing restaurants. For him, the game is up.

Asked how many meals out he'd had over the past 12 years, Wells replied, "Let's say between 2,500 and 3,000 meals, maybe. Is that a lot? I can't tell."

With The New York Times picking up the tab for Wells to eat out with friends, why quit?

Doctor's orders.

"My cholesterol had gone out of whack, and my blood sugar was in the pre-diabetic zone," Wells said. "I didn't need anyone to tell me that my liver was working too hard, and that it really needed a rest. The weight was no surprise, but everything else was news to me."

It was sobering, Wells admitted, to realize that being a food critic could kill him.

In a visit to chef Vijay Kumar's Semma, a South Indian restaurant in Greenwich Village (#7 on the 2024 best list), Wells explained what professional eating looks like: "In a place like this, I would try to bring at least three other people, because you could order a whole bunch of food," he said.

Typically, he would visit a restaurant at least three times and try to sample everything on the menu.

It was, he affirmed, like the Nathan's hot dog eating contest, but in slow motion: "At the end of the night I do feel like I've eaten a mile of hot dogs."

Triniciti Roti Shop is a Trinidad/Tobago-style take-out near Kennedy Airport, and #18 on his 2024 New York Times Best 100 list. Wells has been criticized for ranking places like this above fancy, Michelin-starred temples of fine dining in Manhattan, like Jean-Georges (#19).

Does he judge restaurants on the same basis? "I judge them in terms of, well, how delicious is it?" he said. "That's, like, at the top. And then, how well do they do the thing they're trying to do? So, that's where you can get, you know, a Trinidadian roti shop and a Jean-Georges side-by-side."

For Ewere Edoro, owner of Ewe's Delicious Treats, a Nigerian storefront in a remote part of Brooklyn, and #99 on this year's Best 100 list, recognition was a miracle.

"I thank God – are you the person doing this?" she exclaimed upon meeting Wells. "Thank you very much. I really appreciate."

Showman-TV chef Guy Fieri wasn't so thankful when Wells, ever the wordsmith, eviscerated his now-defunct Times Square restaurant in 2012.

"I'd always rather write a positive review," said Wells. "Now having said that, the negative reviews are often the ones that most people want to read. But where my heart is, is with the discoveries, the ones that say, 'Hey, stop what you're doing and put this place on your calendar.'"

What's on his calendar these days is getting healthy, losing the weight he gained overeating for a living. He demonstrated his own culinary prowess by making a salad for his guest. "I really hope that all the chefs who I've torched over the years are enjoying this display of kitchen incompetence," he said. "Fire away. Tell me everything that's wrong with it. Don't be cruel, but be honest!"

He's not leaving The New York Times, only his job reviewing restaurants. His permanent successor hasn't been named yet.

From his farewell column Wells wrote:

"When I first came to The Times in 2006, a reporter warned me not to identify myself too heavily with my work. 'Any job at The Times is a rented tux,' she said. … It's time to return the tux. I've had the trousers let out a few inches, but a tailor can take them in again. As for the stain on the jacket, that's just pork fat. I think it adds character."

WEB EXTRA: What does food critic Pete Wells keep in his fridge? (YouTube Video)

    
For more info:

• Pete Wells, The New York Times
• The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City in 2024, by Pete Wells
• Ernesto's, New York City
• Semma, New York City
• Trinciti Roti Shop, Queens, N.Y.
• Ewe's Delicious Treats, Brooklyn

      
Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Carol Ross.