Sucker Punch

Award-winning food writer Pete Wells has been the restaurant critic for The New York Times since 2012 and announced in July 2024 that he would be stepping down from the position. As the publication’s first critic to bestow starred reviews to restaurants from all five boroughs of New York, he garnered attention for reviewing hitherto overlooked genres such as taco trucks and pizza-by-the-slice joints. Wells is equally known for his buzz-worthy critiques of high-profile eateries Per Se, Daniel, Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar, and Peter Luger, for which he received a James Beard Journalism Award.