To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite
The Daily15 Mar

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.

Episoder(2847)

Trump 2.0: A Year of Unconstrained Power

Trump 2.0: A Year of Unconstrained Power

In the 365 days since Donald J. Trump was sworn into his second term as president, he has fired, pardoned, prosecuted, tariffed, deployed, deposed, dismantled and deported his way to a new kind of Ame...

20 Jan 42min

Hollywood’s A.I. Moment

Hollywood’s A.I. Moment

There’s a lot of anxiety about artificial intelligence invading Hollywood; the general mood there right now could be called “doom and gloom.” But speculation about a future where A.I. actors perform A...

18 Jan 37min

'The Interview': Kílian Jornet on What We Can Learn From Pushing Our Bodies to Extremes

'The Interview': Kílian Jornet on What We Can Learn From Pushing Our Bodies to Extremes

The ultrarunner and mountaineer finds peace through doing unimaginably hard things. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite p...

17 Jan 43min

An I.V.F. Mix-Up and an Impossible Choice

An I.V.F. Mix-Up and an Impossible Choice

For millions of families, in vitro fertilization is a modern medical miracle. But the field is largely unregulated, and for a small number of parents, things can go terribly wrong.Susan Dominus discus...

16 Jan 46min

Trump’s D.O.J. Went After the Fed. It Backfired.

Trump’s D.O.J. Went After the Fed. It Backfired.

The Trump administration’s decision to open a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome H. Powell, has stunned the worlds of business and politics.Colby Smith and Glenn Thrush, ...

15 Jan 28min

Iran on the Brink

Iran on the Brink

Iran is experiencing expansive protests after economic grievances snowballed over the past two weeks into a broader challenge to the country’s authoritarian clerical rulers.In recent days, a full pict...

14 Jan 28min

The United States' Aspirations for Venezuela's Oil

The United States' Aspirations for Venezuela's Oil

In the days since deposing Nicolás Maduro, President Trump has given several justifications for his dramatic actions in Venezuela. But perhaps most central to his ambitions is opening Venezuela’s oil ...

13 Jan 40min

‘A Breaking Point’: The Minneapolis Police Chief on ICE

‘A Breaking Point’: The Minneapolis Police Chief on ICE

Warning: This episode contains strong language.Just hours before a federal immigration officer killed Renee Good in her car, Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, warned that a tragedy involving...

12 Jan 34min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
nokon-ma-ga
det-store-bildet
hanna-de-heldige
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
aftenbla-bla
e24-podden
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5