Latest news with #TejalRao
New York Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Israel Approves Gaza City Takeover, and Trump to Deploy Federal Agents in D.C.
Hosted by Tracy Mumford Produced by Will Jarvis and Ian Stewart Edited by Ian StewartJessica Metzger and Tracy Mumford Featuring Tejal Rao Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Plan to Take Control of Gaza City, by Adam Rasgon, Natan Odenheimer, Ronen Bergman and Isabel Kershner Trump Orders Surge of Law Enforcement in Washington, D.C., by Chris Cameron As Trump Administration Plans to Burn Contraceptives, Europeans Are Alarmed, by Jeanna Smialek and Stephanie Nolen How One Company Maintained a Monopoly on U.S. Fire Retardant, by Chris Hamby What Can MLB Learn From the Savannah Bananas? A Lot, It Turns Out, by Brittany Ghiroli Tune in, and tell us what you think at theheadlines@ For corrections, email nytnews@ For more audio journalism and storytelling, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. Special thanks to Stephanie Saul.
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
New Details on Camp Mystic, and Trump's Retribution Campaign
Hosted by Tracy Mumford Produced by Will Jarvis and Ian Stewart Edited by Ian StewartJessica Metzger and Tracy Mumford Featuring Tejal Rao Camp Mystic Cabins Stood in an 'Extremely Hazardous' Floodway, by Mike Baker, Malika Khurana, Harry Stevens and Marco Hernandez Administration Takes Steps to Target 2 Officials Who Investigated Trump, by Glenn Thrush and Julian E. Barnes Comey Tracked by Secret Service After Post Critical of Trump, by Michael S. Schmidt and Eileen Sullivan Trump Pledges 50% Tariffs Against Brazil, Citing 'Witch Hunt' Against Bolsonaro, by Jack Nicas Measles Cases Hit Highest Total Since U.S. Eliminated the Disease, by Teddy Rosenbluth and Jonathan Corum This Is the Moment for Mexican Indian Food to Flourish, by Tejal Rao Tune in, and tell us what you think at theheadlines@ For corrections, email nytnews@ For more audio journalism and storytelling, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New Restaurant Critics At The New York Times Shed Anonymity
When The New York Times announced who would become the new chief restaurant critic earlier this month, the news reverberated throughout the food world. Since the 1960s when author Craig Claiborne, who started his career in food journalism as a receptionist for Gourmet Magazine , imagined a regular dining section and a four-star scale system to rate restaurants, the food critics' ultimate goal has been to remain anonymous. This was such an integral part of the job that in 2005, Ruth Reichl wrote an entire memoir called Garlic and Sapphires, The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise . Today, The New York Times ' new restaurant critic is shedding their cloak. Oh, and now there are two. Meet co-chief critics Ligaya Mishan based in New York and Tejal Rao in Los Angeles. Ligaya Mishan and Tejal Rao, the new co-chief restaurant critics at The New York Times Tony Cenicola/The New York Times SB: What will you gain by losing anonymity and what will you lose? Tejal Rao: The idea of perfect anonymity has never been completely realistic. It seems only one or two critics were able to achieve it before the era of social media, but when you live in a city and you go out to restaurants, you develop relationships with chefs and waiters and then they move to other places, so being under the radar is truly difficult. In the past, I enjoyed it but sometimes felt there were giveaways, such as how many different dishes I ordered. So, I don't feel we were completely anonymous prior to this decision, and I don't think we will be completely visible either. Ligaya Mishan: I agree. We know there were always critics' photographs in restaurant kitchens. Since the announcement, I have gone to restaurants and been treated poorly, which thrilled me! I could still be a regular diner which is the experience I want to understand. It's one thing to spot a celebrity but we are just ordinary people, and I believe that even without a disguise, it's possible to slip through. The late food critic Gael Greene hiding under her hat at Jean Georges restaurant. (Photo by James Keivom/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) NY Daily News via Getty Images SB: Are you the new influencers? LM: Aren't the influencers the old critics? I think the difference is that the influencer has a positive connotation. They will make you want to do whatever they think is great, sort of when someone is hawking skin care products, but a restaurant review is public service journalism. We provide information so that you can make a decision. Maybe one thing gained by losing anonymity is that we hope we can build relationships with our readers. Perhaps by getting to know us and understand where we are coming from, they will know when to trust us and agree, or when they might not. I don't want to influence people. I want them to think and wonder about the stories behind the restaurants. Every restaurant has a story to tell, and it can inform the basic question of 'where should I eat tonight?' SB: How will you compete with diners' reviews on various platforms? TR: I don't think of the work we do as competing with individual diners. I think diners look at various platforms, and they will also watch our videos and read our reviews. There are a lot of things people can consume today and there's room for all of it. SB: How do you feel about the relationship between chef and recipe? Are you looking for an authentic dish or are you more curious about the interpretation of that dish? Olives, mozzarella tomato salad, Greek salad, pasta, tortellini, pizza, pita sandwich, shish kebab, shakshuka, and hummus. getty TR: I want to know what the restaurant is doing. If a restaurant specializes in the classics, then I am interested in that. If they are creative, then I am open to understanding what the chef is trying to say. LM: Food is constantly changing. And the word authentic may not make sense when it comes to food. Even with classic recipes, many versions exist. There is such an abundance, dishes that are classics, others forward-thinking. We are curious to see how the chef's personal story comes out on the plate. One chef will say that they are making a dish the way it needs to be made, the way it's always been made, while the other will think, Let's play! SB: On a sensory level, what do you feel when you step into a restaurant? Dinner laid out on the table. getty TR: It depends but sometimes there are a lot of smells to take in. If there's an open kitchen, you immediately get what the cooks are preparing or how clean the frying oil may be. Depending on the place, how am I getting greeted or not, what does the menu say about the restaurant? LM: The texture of the sounds, how many people are there, the quality of the light. SB: How will you divide the country? TR: We are constantly in touch to make sure we don't end up in the same place at the same time, but there is no formal divide. We will be zigzagging across the country. LM: It's part of a conversation with our editors. We are in the field, so we discuss what we feel would be interesting to our readers. SB: Is video the new literary genre? TR: Video is new to me, something I need to figure out because I am so used to writing, but it's a wonderful way to connect with people so they can see who I am and understand why I write the kinds of reviews I write. I would not say it's a literary form but it's really valuable. LM: I believe it's a genre in itself. We have a fantastic team and through videos we are learning how to speak to our readers. SB: When Pete Wells, the former restaurant critic, announced his retirement, he detailed how eating out so much had serious consequences for his health. How will you handle this part of the job? LM: I run a lot. Right now, about 40 miles a week. I made a New Year's resolution way before I knew about this job to do push-ups every day, and I am at 36 per day! Seems I've hit a plateau now, but I also did strength training this morning. It's a work in progress. And when we are out, we don't finish everything we order. I say that, and then dessert arrives and it's game over! TR: When a place is not amazing it's easy to just take a few bites, but when it's great, I just enjoy it. I too though am committed to my workout routines and self-care, so I'm hoping this will balance out this athletic eating and prevent us from getting sick. But so much about this job is about finding pleasure. I don't want to curb that.
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Corrections: June 18, 2025
An article on Sunday about President Trump's military parade and the thousands of protests that took place across the United States on Saturday described incorrectly the political leaning of Dallas. The city is predominantly Democratic, not a Republican stronghold. Because of an editing error, an interview on Sunday with The Times's new chief restaurant critics Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan misstated the year the Columbia Inn in Honolulu closed. It was 2001, not 2011. A picture caption with an article on Monday about financial filings that detail the finances of dozens of officials in the two years before they joined President Trump's administration misstated the source of nearly $1.7 million in payments reported in Taylor Budowich's financial disclosure statement. The payments came from a consulting firm that represented clients including the Trump campaign and groups created to support it, as well as other clients, not from groups tied to the Trump campaign. Because of an editing error, a picture caption with an article on Monday about the way Oklahoma City and its N.B.A. team, the Thunder, have flourished together misstated the city's population. It is over 700,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, not 1.4 million, which is the population of the metropolitan area. An article on Saturday about the new documentary 'Prime Minister' described incorrectly Jacinda Ardern's position. She was head of government as the prime minister of New Zealand, not head of state. A picture caption with an obituary on Tuesday about the concert promoter and talent manager Rigmor Newman, using information from her family, misspelled the given name of the dancer Fayard Nicholas's wife. It was Katherine, not Catherine. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions. To contact the newsroom regarding correction requests, please email nytnews@ To share feedback, please visit Comments on opinion articles may be emailed to letters@ For newspaper delivery questions: 1-800-NYTIMES (1-800-698-4637) or email customercare@
CNN
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
The New York Times is changing the recipe behind its iconic Dining brand
The New York Times on Wednesday announced major changes to its iconic Dining beat: the appointment of two co-chief restaurant critics and an expansion into video reviews. The newspaper is also more seriously turning its gaze nationwide, marking a critical turning point for a section that has long been a kingmaker of the New York City culinary scene. The Times announced Wednesday morning that Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan will be its new chief restaurant critics. In naming two top food critics, a first for the Times, the storied newspaper signals ambitious growth for the beat as it tasks the pair with 'capturing this moment in American dining.' The news comes almost one year after Pete Wells, the Times' legendary food critic who served up reviews for 12 years, shared that he was stepping down from his role. The Dining beat has long been a major draw for the Times. Under Wells, the section developed a reputation for making or breaking a restaurant's business with a single review, leading many to consider the section the gold standard for dining coverage. Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. In tinkering with the recipe, the Times aims to reproduce the massive successes it has seen in other sections that have diversified storytelling media to meet audiences where they are, notably Cooking. While many have turned to the Cooking section for everyday recipes since its 2014 launch, the section's stories and videos have also proved immensely popular. In 2024, the Cooking website raked in 456 million visits, while the NYT Cooking YouTube account saw more than 4.3 million hours streamed. Younger digital publications such as Eater and Infatuation have capitalized on consumers' appetite for video, producing reviews for YouTube and social media platforms that rake in thousands of views. The Times' new approach echoes those of its peers while also helping to set it apart from its Dining rivals across legacy media. Since Wells' departure, Priya Krishna and Melissa Clark — known to many as stalwarts of the Times' Cooking app — have operated as interim critics. As co-chief critics, Rao and Mishan will be deployed to review restaurants nationwide, allowing the Times to review more restaurants outside the five boroughs. Mishan will be based out of New York City, while Rao will operate out of California, and the pair will review restaurants in their respective cities. To better whet audiences' palates, the Times will produce videos with Rao and Mishan that will appear across its app and off-platform channels. The videos will feature interviews with people about 'restaurants, criticism, places that excite them and how they do what they do.' 'It's a tool in building trust, and a way to bring a whole new level of transparency and humanity to our criticism,' the Times said in its announcement. Despite adopting a less New York-centric approach, the Gray Lady signaled that it will keep its fingers on the city's culinary pulse. To do so, the Times will work with critic-contributors to recommend a wider array of restaurants and provide brief starred reviews to its audience each month. But stars, previously exclusive to New York dining, will now also be awarded to restaurants across the country. While the co-chief critics will still work to operate undetected, the Times will no longer try to hide critics' faces publicly. Traditionally, the Times maintained its critics' anonymity to avoid special treatment and more honestly assess the average dining experience. The policy has been deemed impractical since restaurants have been able to identify critics despite these efforts. The newspaper will continue to foot the bill on meals for ethical reasons and decline dining invitations from restaurants and publicists alike.
