Kind of surprising for the chief restaurant critic to be cut without comment for a food site. Or maybe not.
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Interesting!
FWIW he was very vocal throughout the pandemic. Very much in favor of mandates even after mandates were dropped.
I have very mixed feelings about this.
It becomes harder and harder for any journalist to make a living in this country, as a “free” press is constantly under assault. If there’s another business that is perhaps even harder than the restaurant business, it is journalism. But you are right that it is odd for a food site to be without a NY restaurant critic.
Sietsema’s still there, though, right?
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Yes.
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He told me he’s safe. Thank God.
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Sietsema reviews inexpensive ethnic spots while Sutton reviewed moderate to upscale restaurants. I wasn’t a fan of Sutton. However, unless they’re planning to have Sietsema also cover the types of restaurants Sutton did — which, frankly, I think is a terrible idea — it’s beyond ridiculous for Eater not to have a regular reviewer for upper tier restaurants.
Eater has become (or always kind of was, really) essentially a PR machine, so it (almost) makes sense.
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I agree. They hired a lot of young, TikTokish writers to cover stories and sometimes I feel they are just copying and pasting PR presses instead of really dissecting a dining experience. Also, sometimes the articles are full of grammatical error. Oi vey…
Eater does not need a restaurant critic.
It’s not really a restaurant review site.
Nowadays, Eater (all locations) is just either posting listicles or doing PR for new restaurants.
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