Restaurant Critic
The New York Times is seeking an energetic, knowledgeable and highly skilled critic to provide authoritative insight into restaurants of all types, from casual neighborhood places to glittery palaces of gastronomy. Our new critic will produce best-in-class journalism, telling readers where to eat, but also help them understand the world through a relentless examination of why, when and what we eat.
Some of the work will be to review restaurants, writing in an engaging, accessible and timely manner informed by the expertise that has long differentiated The Times’s cultural criticism. As the restaurant critic you will be expected to write both long-form essays and speedy pieces in reaction to the news, and also compile lists. You will collaborate with colleagues working in other formats (video, audio, interactive journalism) to bring our criticism to life in new ways across multiple platforms.
You will be an authority on food. You will possess deep culinary knowledge — about ingredients and cooking techniques, spanning a range of cuisines — to bring an informed point of view to the more technical aspects of cooking. You will be able to put that knowledge to great use, writing insightfully and in detail about the food on the plate as well as the cultural context of the restaurant. You will be a big thinker who writes with confidence, thoughtfulness, voice, wit and style; superb prose is essential. You will be fully immersed in the culture of social media and fluent in its language and forms, and you will be eager to create content on many channels. You will be excited to work with us to reimagine and reshape our criticism on New York Times platforms and beyond. And you will express a deep streak of independence.
The job is to be a definitive voice on the subject of where to eat, while bringing the joy and complexity of restaurants alive. Come hungry.
This is a hybrid position based in New York City and includes regular attendance in the office each week per your departmental guidance. It will involve frequent travel.
Responsibilities:
Identify restaurants for coverage, and then report and write insightful and engaging reviews, covering a wide range of restaurant types and cuisines
Write sweeping critical essays that look at dining culture at large, as well as quick-turn pieces reacting to the news
Create lists of restaurant recommendations and other forms of service journalism, and contribute to group projects surveying the dining scene
Embrace social media and take a hands-on approach to creating content for different platforms
Collaborate with photo and video colleagues inside The Times to create a more visual approach to our criticism
Travel regularly in order to write about restaurants on a national scale
Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world
This role reports to the Deputy Editor, Food & Cooking
Basic Qualifications:
10+ years of professional experience as a restaurant critic or food writer, and a deep understanding of food and dining culture in America
4+ years of professional or educational culinary experience, to bring an informed point of view to the more technical aspects of restaurant cooking across an array of cuisines
A body of work that demonstrates strong writing skills and a distinctive voice and prose style
Preferred Qualifications:
The ability to work and file copy quickly in a deadline-driven environment
Social media fluency and a high degree of comfort using those platforms
A record of innovation and creative thinking in digital media
An understanding of the myriad ways people now find and use restaurant content online
To Apply: Please submit your resume, cover letter, and writing samples.
This position is represented by the NewsGuild of NY.
The annual base pay salary for this role is between $122,529.16 and $170,000.00.