Meet Our New Restaurant Critics

“I’m Ligaya Mishan, and I’m your new chief restaurant critic at The New York Times. I’m Tejal Rao, and I’m also your new chief restaurant critic at The New York Times. This is the first time that The Times has national critics and this is the first time that we’re revealing ourselves. So when Pete Wells stepped down, I texted him and I said, I pity the poor writer who will follow in your footsteps. And it’s you. And it’s us. I think it is unrealistic in this day and age to maintain anonymity short of being a CIA agent. I really don’t know how we could do that. How do you feel about not being anonymous anymore? I’ve essentially been anonymous since 2012. I was anonymous for so long that I kind of have a weird relationship with photos of myself. Hey, I like that photo. Oh good. I’m so glad. What a nice feeling. I love the idea of not playing the game of anonymity. The thought of connecting with readers or readers knowing who we are and being able to see our faces and trust us like that feels really exciting to me. I mean, I’ll always make reservations under a different name. I’ll always kind of be discreet when I’m going into places. So fake name, fake credit card. Well, real credit card but- So we need to create entire fake identities sort of like the Russian sleeper cells. Yes, like Olive Palooza. It came from one of my favorite novels. I combined the names of two different characters, and I’ve used it for years. I used to think that part of the fun of being a restaurant critic was that you got to dress up and pretend to be someone else. I think that we have to somehow find a way to remain grounded, so that even if we are recognized, we have to know what the experience of an ordinary customer who isn’t a critic, what is that like? I love the idea of criticism being like a team project. It makes so much sense. America is big. This is a really big and ambitious shift for The Times to cover restaurants nationally, and it would be kind of an impossible task for one person. Part of the fun of there being two of us is that we can talk about everything that’s happening, not just in our respective cities, but in the country, even the world. All these trends in dining and what they say about this moment in time. Restaurant criticism can show readers something about a place and a people and a community and politics In piece after piece you’re building this portrait. We’ve got to learn the whole language of the city as well as this particular restaurant, because how can you understand a restaurant unless you understand the whole landscape it’s in. You’re telling a story about everything that surrounds it. Geography and price point and cuisine like that national diversity is so exciting to me right now.