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NYT restaurant critic quits after medical exam

23 July 2024 By Louis Thomas

Pete Wells is leaving his post as The New York Times‘ restaurant critic after a medical examination revealed the consequences of a career of eating professionally.

While the life of a restaurant critic in New York City may indeed seem enviable, giving one access to some of the best eateries in the world, it can involve a gruelling amount of consumption that can be detrimental to health. Wells, who became the critic for The New York Times in 2011, is reaping the consequences of his professional life.

“Early this year, I went for my first physical in longer than I’d care to admit,” wrote Wells in a piece for the paper, revealing that he felt it was a “fair bet” that he wasn’t in “the best shape” after a career in consumption.

“My scores were bad across the board; my cholesterol, blood sugar and hypertension were worse than I’d expected even in my doomiest moments. The terms pre-diabetes, fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome were thrown around. I was technically obese,” he continued.

At the time of his appointment with the doctor, he was halfway through eating his way around 140 restaurants, usually multiple times, as research for this year’s edition of The 100 Best Restaurants in New York City.

Having spent more than a decade surrounded by some of the best food and drink money can buy, Wells claims to have lost his appetite.

“But a funny thing happened when I got to the end of all that eating: I realised I wasn’t hungry. And I’m still not, at least not the way I used to be,” he explained. “And so, after 12 years as restaurant critic for The New York Times, I’ve decided to bow out as gracefully as my state of technical obesity will allow.”

Wells also quoted another veteran of the trade, Adam Platt, who was restaurant critic for New York Magazine for 24 years, who claimed to now be suffering from “gout, hypertension, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes” – among the factors that Platt cited was that he began eating desserts on the job, something he was not prone to before.

Keeping healthy is a concern for many restaurant critics. Grace Dent, who reviews for The Guardian and also appears on MasterChef, cites small portions (when not reviewing) and regular exercise as key, and has advocated for a more “strategic” approach to dining out: “I try to go as light as I can on the carbs side of it, because I could polish off a whole bread basket and side of dauphinoise potatoes and that would be my ideal dinner.”

When it comes to eating and drinking, moderation is very much the dish of the day, and it has been proven that there are some health benefits that come with enjoying a glass of wine.

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