Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.
Since being named The New York Times’s chief restaurant critics last June, Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan have filed reviews from more than a dozen states. They have exulted in delicate, featheredged black sesame streusel over corn pudding in Honolulu and slurped tender tapioca noodles in Minneapolis. Last year, they helped choose the 50 best restaurants in America, logging thousands of miles as they scoped out steakhouses and snack bars.
“We’ve gotten to travel so much,” said Ms. Rao, who is based in Los Angeles. Ms. Mishan, who is based in New York City, splits her time between reviewing restaurants there and covering the rest of the country with Ms. Rao.
Ms. Mishan and Ms. Rao broke with their predecessor, Pete Wells, who held the role for 12 years, in a number of ways: They didn’t try to hide their faces, and they began experimenting with video reviews.
In a video call, they reflected on their first year on the job, the dietary demands of the reviewing lifestyle and what they’re looking forward to next. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
What were the highlights from the year for each of you?
TEJAL RAO Barbs B Q in Lockhart, and all of the excellent barbecue that I ate in Texas. Every meal at Diane’s in Minneapolis, but especially the chicken soup for breakfast. And the tasting menu at Emeril’s in New Orleans, which totally took me by surprise and reminded me that tasting menus can actually be fun.
LIGAYA MISHAN I haven’t traveled as much as Tejal, but I just completed the top 100 restaurants in New York City list. I feel like I’ve run a marathon over the past few months. There were days when I ate at five restaurants in a day, and I was going all over town. Sometimes the subway ride was much longer than the actual meal.
RAO There’s always a sense with this work that it’s not enough time. I want more time to go to more places, to make more stops, to eat more meals.
MISHAN I loved writing about this little place in New Jersey, a mother-and-daughter-run Bangladeshi spot. It’s only open two nights a week, and they just serve you food for hours, more than you could ever eat. It doesn’t have the sense of hyperbuzz, or that you’re entering a space where you have to be reverential. You can just enjoy food and the company of the people you’re with. It just reminds you that that’s what’s beautiful about eating.
You said when you were appointed that you’d make no effort to hide your faces. Are you recognized, and do you receive special treatment as a result?
RAO For a while, I was only really getting recognized in L.A., but it’s happening more nationally now. It’s not at every restaurant. There are a lot of restaurants where they just don’t care if a critic is there, which is great.
MISHAN It’s so comforting to go to really small places where, like Tejal said, they’re not looking out for a critic. I feel bad when people recognize me, because I think it creates incredible pressure on the restaurant.
RAO Yeah, when you can tell you’re making people anxious, it’s an awful feeling.
MISHAN The real tell is that if you order a few appetizers, they come one by one, instead of all at once — perhaps so that each can be eaten at precisely the right temperature — and the whole pace of the meal slows down. What would ordinarily be a one-and-a-half-to-two-hour meal becomes a three-and-a-half-hour meal.
What was the biggest surprise for each of you?
MISHAN There have been moments when I’m tired, and I’ll go to a restaurant without high expectations and just be thoroughly delighted. It’s not that it’s suddenly the best restaurant I’ve ever been to, but it’s just such a delightful evening where I think, Wow, what a beautiful salad, a salad that totally surprises me, revives my palate, that makes me enjoy eating out again.
RAO I’ve been pleasantly surprised by older restaurants that have gotten better, that keep getting better, especially in this moment when every place is struggling financially. It’s a really hard time to operate a restaurant.
Pete Wells wrote a series about recovering from a position he acknowledged had been disastrous for his health. How do you cope with the demands of the reviewing lifestyle?
MISHAN When I’m not eating out, I tend to eat mostly vegetables, rice and fish. I really don’t eat meat on my time off. I run 30 to 40 miles a week, and I do push-ups every day just to stay healthy. Pete really went all in. Except for when I was doing the top 100 list, I generally do not go to two dinners a night.
RAO When I’m traveling, I’m trying to make the most of my time. And so I do pack in a lot more when I’m on the road, more than I probably should. It’s really challenging, because your body has its limitations and at a certain point it’s like, I just don’t have the appetite for another meal today. I have to go on a walk or do something else for a bit!
What are you looking forward to over the next year?
RAO I want to cover more vegetarian and vegan food. When I’m traveling, I’ve been trying making a point to go to places that have vegetarian — or mostly vegetarian — tasting menus, too. I’d like to do a story about that soon.
MISHAN I want to go to some smaller cities and places that don’t always get attention in the press. And I want to do more dialogues, or even joint reviews, to play with the fact that there are two of us.
What are some misconceptions people have about your jobs?
RAO A lot of people think critics go out alone and sit at a table with a notebook and a pen, and that they spend all night critiquing the food out loud, like Julia Roberts does in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” But going out for a review meal is not a deadly serious experience — I’m going out with people I like and I want to have a good time!
MISHAN I think there’s also a misconception that we’re being ferried around in town cars or flying business class. We’re flying in economy. I’m taking the subway everywhere. We’re not ordering $300 bottles of wine and just living it up.
When you’re just dining out for fun, do you order dessert?
RAO Yes.
MISHAN 100 percent.
Sarah Bahr writes about culture and style for The Times.
The post Our Food Critics Take Stock of a Year in Reviews appeared first on New York Times.
