Ligaya Mishan & Tejal Rao, The Modern Restaurant Critics Of The New York Times

On this episode

About this episode

Today’s guests are Ligaya Mishan and Tejal Rao, the co-chief restaurant critics at The New York Times. Ligaya is based in New York City, while Tejal is based in Los Angeles, and together they’re bringing a fresh perspective to one of the most influential roles in the food world. Ligaya and Tejal are also featured on Cherry Bombe’s 2026 Power List. Ligaya and Tejal join host Kerry Diamond to talk about their childhoods, the foods that shaped them, and how they each found their way to writing and restaurant criticism. They share how they’re approaching this new era of criticism—one that takes into account emerging audiences and cuisines, the end of anonymity, and the physical and emotional…