To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite

For 12 years, Pete Wells had his dream job: working as the chief restaurant critic for The New York Times. The job’s journalistic mission required Wells to eat out most nights and taste nearly everything on any given restaurant’s menu. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the excessive eating had taken a toll on his body.

Then came a health crisis, followed by his doctor’s advice to “stop doing what you’re doing right now.”

In 2024, Wells gave up his post as restaurant critic and set out to remake his entire relationship with food.

On today’s episode, Michael Barbaro speaks with Wells about the realities of life as a restaurant critic, and what he’s learning about the joys of home cooking, mindful eating and grocery shopping for the diet he intends to follow.

On Today’s Episode:

Pete Wells is a reporter covering food for The New York Times. He was formerly The Times’s restaurant critic.

Background Reading:

After 12 Years of Reviewing Restaurants, I’m Leaving the Table

Our Former Restaurant Critic Changed His Eating Habits. You Can, Too.

To Eat Healthier, Our Critic Went to the Source: His Kitchen

To Tune Out Food Noise, Our Critic Listened to His Hunger

To Improve How He Ate, Our Critic Looked at What He Drank

Photo Credit: Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(2916)

Why Are Grocery Store Prices So High

According to the Economic Research Service at the Department of Agriculture, prices across all food categories are expected to rise 3.2 percent in 2026. Today, Jessica Cheung, a senior audio producer ...

13 Jul 37min

What’s Epic About the ‘Odyssey’? Everything.

This Friday, “The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan, hits theaters. Even before the movie’s release, though, it’s proving to be a cultural event. Spirited discussions of Nolan’s cinematic interp...

12 Jul 50min

Mick Jagger Knows He May Have Played His Last Rolling Stones Show

The legendary rock star, now 82, on how fame, touring and aging have changed him. Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.com Watch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcast For tra...

11 Jul 1h 2min

Cuba Under Siege

In January, after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, the Trump administration turned its attention to Cuba. In the months since, the White House has used every tool at its disposal ...

10 Jul 47min

The Unprecedented Personal Profits of Trump’s Presidency

A recent financial disclosure shows that President Trump has made $2.2 billion since he returned to office. Today, Eric Lipton, a New York Times investigative reporter, reveals the Trump family’s next...

9 Jul 29min

The Implosion of Graham Platner

The campaign for Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate from Maine, imploded this week after he was accused of rape. Lisa Lerer and Shane Goldmacher, national political correspondents for T...

8 Jul 35min

The Onion’s Latest Joke: Taking Over Infowars

Last Thursday, the satirical newspaper The Onion started its own version of Infowars, the infamous online hub of misinformation created by Alex Jones. The takeover has been years in the making. After ...

7 Jul 22min

The Landmark Housing Bill That Trump Refuses to Sign

President Trump called a major bill to address the housing crisis “the most comprehensive and consequential housing legislation in the history of our country,” and a Congress controlled by his own par...

6 Jul 23min