Dine & Cook | Alternative food journalism

There's a new person at the helm of the New York Times' prestigious restaurant review beat.

Late Tuesday afternoon the Times announced that their dining editor Pete Wells was taking over the position from Sam Sifton.  Wells joined the paper in October 2006, his previous post was the articles editor at Details Magazine.  He also very briefly held the post of interim restaurant critic in 2009 between Frank Bruni and Sifton.  Sifton, stepped down in September after two years at the position to become the paper's national editor.

Wells' other culinary experience includes a two year stint as an editor and columnist at Food & Wine and five James Beard awards for his writing. 

“We knew we were on the right track when more than one of the dozens of applicants around the country opened their queries by saying, ‘Pete should be the critic, but I’m available if you don’t pick him,’” a memo to the Times staff read announcing the move.

“No one could be better prepared or respected for his superb writing, intimate knowledge of food and restaurants and deep commitment to our dining franchise,” the memo continued.

The only official comment from Wells was on his twitter page where he wrote "[tap, tap] Is this thing on? Various sources reporting I have a new job."  Interestingly, Wells removed his profile picture from Twitter replacing it with a photo of oysters.

Past NY Times restaurant critics have gone to extremes to protect their anonymity.  It's rumored that the paper's online staff is removing photos of Wells from past articles.  The memo handed out to staff even poked fun at the secrecy surrounding the post.

“Pete ... is having himself outfitted with a variety of seasonal, local and organic wigs,” the memo read.  A NY Times blog post on the position change was quick to point out "Times critics, as a rule, don’t wear disguises while on the job."

One thing readers may have to look forward to from Wells is the incorporation of cheaper restaurants on the review page.  During a question and answer period with readers while he was dining editor, Wells wrote: "I love cheap and quick meals, too. The first restaurants I ever wrote about were ones where it was almost impossible to rack up a tab over $15."

According to an article published by the Times in 2007, Wells will eat almost anything except cold pasta salad.  Responding to the claim, he jokingly wrote: "I'll make you a deal. I'll try your cold pasta if you promise to make the same recipe in a hot version. We'll taste them side by side. If we agree that the cold pasta is better, I'll buy the wine."

Replacing Wells is Susan Edgerley, the Times' former metropolitan editor.  Wells begins his new job in January.