Undercover Dining With NY Times Restaurant Critic Pete Wells «

Dan Pashman: Check, check … Hi! If my voice sounds different, it’s because I’m recording on my cell phone right now. I don’t have my recording gear with me because I’m about to go out into a restaurant. And you know, if you walk into a restaurant with a bunch of microphones, you’re kind of conspicuous, and I am on a secret mission. Where am I? At an undisclosed location somewhere in New York City. Well, it’s disclosed  to me, but I can’t tell you. Where am I going to eat? Again, sorry, top secret. But I can tell you who I’m going with. New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells. He has been called the most read and most feared food writer in America. He can make or break a restaurant with the power of one of his reviews.

Dan Pashman: And he doesn’t want restaurants to know he’s coming, because he doesn’t want special treatment, so he makes reservations under fake names. Even once he’s inside, he tries not be recognized. That’s why there’s only, like, one picture of him online and I think it’s from a long time ago. So, I’m out here on a street corner trying to find this guy and I’m not even exactly sure what he looks like. Where is Pete? Oh, I think that might be him coming down the street?

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: Yes, I waved to him and he waved back. Pete, it’s you. 

Pete Wells: Yes. How do you know?

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] Well, you don’t look so different in that one picture out there.  

Pete Wells: I definitely look older and rounder.  

Dan Pashman: No, you look just as good as you did in that picture. 

Pete Wells: Thank you. 

Dan Pashman: [LAUGHS] 

MUSIC

Dan Pashman: When Pete goes out, he doesn’t wear full on disguises, but he does change up his look. The night we met, it seemed he had gone with “college professor”. Another thing I read is that in the restaurant, I shouldn’t refer to him as Pete — that could tip off the servers.

Dan Pashman: So, if I’m not going to call you Pete, what should I call you?

Pete Wells: Oh, I don’t —…