Sam Sifton to Take Over As New York Times Food Critic
By the All Culinary Schools career research team—Your source for Culinary School news, trends and programs.
Come October, there's going to be a new culinary expert in town. The latest chief restaurant critic at the New York Times—replacing Frank Bruni—will be Sam Sifton, the paper's current culture editor. Bruni will move on to a new job as regular writer for the Times Sunday magazine.
Sifton, 43, brings a wealth of experience to the high-profile position. He has written about food and restaurants since the 1990s, first for the alternative weekly paper New York Press, and then as a contributor to the New York Times Dining section and Sunday magazine. He has also been editor of the Dining section, moving on in 2005 to become culture editor. As chief restaurant critic, Sifton will be in a unique position to drive positive attention to new, up-and-coming restaurants—or create a negative buzz for eateries that don't make the cut.
The news of the hire was not without its own buzz. Sifton was drafted for the job after a list of impressive candidates was considered carefully—and thrown out. Bill Keller, the paper's executive editor, calls Sifton "a writer of discernment and wit and erudition." Being a well-known writer and editor might make Sifton's job as restaurant critic a bit more difficult, though. Often, newspaper restaurant critics strive for anonymity, or at least discretion, when making reservations. But Sifton claims to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Sifton also says he's "overjoyed" about the new job. He plans to prepare for the position in part by sending himself on a food tour of sorts, making the world his culinary school and "combining reviewing duties with reporting ones" in locations as varied as Paris, Shanghai and Mexico City.
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