The Sifton Scorecard

Last Update: October 12, 2011

Sam Sifton was New York Times restaurant critic for two years. How did his ratings stack up?

The table below shows every restaurant review that Sifton filed, Sifton’s rating, and what New York Journal considers to be the “correct” rating. Those Sifton over-rated are highlighted in red; those he under-rated are highlighted in green.

The correct rating, although clearly not scientific, was determined via a consensus of sources I trust. In a number of cases, it is different than the rating I myself gave the restaurant when I visited. Where there isn’t much critical opinion, I generally gave Sifton the benefit of the doubt. If you disagree, I am happy to refund your money. Oops! I forgot; you didn’t pay to read this. Forget the refund, then. But feel free, to weigh in (with civility) in the comments.

Sifton filed a number of reviews for no apparent reason — that is, where there was no news story or precedent that suggested the restaurant needed to be reviewed (or re-reviewed). Those are labeled “WTF?” in the right-most column. Note that this is a quite different issue than whether he rated the restaurant correctly. (N.B. I am not saying that none of the restaurants labeled “WTF?” should have been reviewed, which is a more nuanced question. I am merely pointing out that these are the ones he didn’t have to review.)

Date	Restaurant	Sifton Rating	Correct Rating	Comments
10/14/2009	DBGB	**	**
10/21/2009	Marea	***	***
10/28/2009	Imperial Palace	*	*	WTF?
11/4/2009	Le Relais de Venise	*	ZERO	WTF?
11/11/2009	Aureole	*	**
11/18/2009	Oceana	**	**
11/25/2009	A Voce Columbus	**	**
12/2/2009	SD26	*	*
12/9/2009	Madangsui	*	*	WTF?
12/16/2009	Tanuki Tavern	*	*
12/16/2009	Ed’s Chowder House	ZERO	*
12/23/2009	La Grenouille	***	***
12/30/2009	Purple Yam	*	*	WTF?
1/6/2010	Casa Lever	**	*
1/13/2010	The Breslin	*	**
1/20/2010	Maialino	**	**
1/27/2010	Le Caprice	ZERO	ZERO
2/3/2010	(no review)
2/10/2010	Novitá	**	*	WTF?
2/17/2010	Motorino	*	*
2/24/2010	Tanoreen	*	*	WTF?
3/3/2010	Choptank	ZERO	*
3/10/2010	Strip House	**	**	WTF?
3/17/2010	Colicchio & Sons	***	**
3/24/2010	Chin Chin	*	*	WTF?
3/31/2010	Recette	**	**
4/7/2010	Faustina	*	**
4/14/2010	Nello	ZERO	ZERO	WTF?
4/21/2010	SHO Shaun Hergatt	**	***
4/28/2010	The Mark	**	*
5/4/2010	Pulino’s Bar & Pizzeria	*	*
5/12/2010	Fatty ’Cue	*	*
5/19/2010	Mia Dona	ZERO	ZERO
5/26/2010	Prime Meats	**	**
6/2/2010	ABC Kitchen	**	**
6/9/2010	Torrisi Italian Specialties	**	*
6/16/2010	Takashi	*	*
6/23/2010	Annisa	**	***
6/30/2010	Balaboosta	*	*
7/7 2010	Kenmare	ZERO	ZERO
7/14/2010	Má Pêche	**	**
7/21/2010	Aquavit	**	**
7/28/2010	The Lion	*	ZERO
8/4/2010	Tamarind Tribeca	**	**
8/11/2010	(no review)
8/18/2010	Toloache	*	*
8/25/2010	Plein Sud	ZERO	ZERO
8/25/2010	Wall & Water	*	*	WTF?
9/1/2010	Il Matto	**	*
9/8/2010	Fornino	*	*	WTF?
9/15/2010	Nuela	*	*
9/22/2010	Vandaag	**	*
9/29/2010	Del Posto	****	***
10/6/2010	Marc Forgione	**	**
10/13/2010	Xiao Ye	ZERO	ZERO	WTF?
10/20/2010	Manzo	N.R.	**
10/27/2010	The Lambs Club	*	*
11/3/2010	Peels	*	*
11/10/2010	Lavo	ZERO	ZERO	WTF?
11/17/2010	Hurricane Club	*	*
11/24/2010	Lincoln	**	**
12/1/2010	Osteria Morini	*	**
12/8/2010	Riverpark	**	**
12/15/2010	Kin Shop	**	**
12/22/2010	Anella	*	*	WTF?
1/5/2011	Millesime	**	**
1/12/2011	Ciano	**	**
1/19/2011	Lyon	*	*
1/26/2011	John Dory Oyster Bar	**	*
2/2/2011	The Fat Radish	*	*
2/9/2011	Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan	*	*	WTF?
2/16/2011	Bar Basque	*	*
2/23/2011	Ai Fiori	***	***
3/2/2011	Fish Tag	ZERO	**
3/9/2011	Red Rooster Harlem	**	**
3/16/2011	Veritas	***	**
3/23/2011	La Petite Maison	*	*
3/30/2011	Junoon	**	**
3/30/2011	Tulsi	*	**
4/6/2011	M. Wells	**	**
4/13/2011	Niko	*	ZERO
4/20/2011	Graffit	*	*
4/27/2011	Brooklyn Fare	***	***
5/4/2011	Colonie	*	*	WTF?
5/11/2011	The National	*	*
5/18/2011	Gotham Bar & Grill	***	***
5/25/2011	(no review)
6/1/2011	Tenpenny	*	*
6/8/2011	Imperial No. Nine	ZERO	ZERO
6/15/2011	Masa	***	****
6/22/2011	Desmond’s	*	*
6/29/2011	Empellón	*	*
7/6/2011	The Dutch	**	**
7/13/2011	Brushstroke	**	***
7/20/2011	(no review)
7/27/2011	Palm and Palm Too	*	ZERO	WTF?
8/10/2011	Boulud Sud	**	**
8/17/2011	Danji	*	*
8/24/2011	Roberta’s	**	*
8/31/2011	456 Shanghai Cuisine	*	*	WTF?
9/7/2011	Craft	***	***
9/14/2011	Hospoda	*	*
9/21/2011	St. Anselm	*	*	WTF?
9/28/2011	Coppelia	*	*
9/28/2011	Miss Lily’s Favourite Cakes	ZERO	ZERO	WTF?
10/5/2011	Tertulia	**	**
10/12/2011	Per Se	****	****

Comments

[EatBigApple]

I actually didn't realize he wrote that many reviews already, great compilation.

I do feel that my taste buds agree more with the words of Bruni, so who does NY Journal score higher?

[Marc Shepherd]

I thought that Bruni wrote better, and with more enthusiasm. Sifton seems bored.

Bruni’s taste buds didn’t always agree with mine, but his blind spots (as I saw them) were predictable, and one could mentally adjust for that.

[Wilfrid]

Very interesting. I note that the discrepancies between Sifton and "truth" are small - never more than one star, I think. Probably true of Bruni also, although Gilt (**) was borderline four stars. It's hard to find a pattern, except a slight tendency to overrate places with name chefs (but then, what about Osteria Morini?).

I actually think he's right about Vandaag, where some really exciting cooking is partly disguised by the setting and the Dutch schtick.

[Chris]

I appreciate the fact that Sifton went out of his way to review WTF restaurants, though the number of WTF reviews may have been a tad excessive in the beginning of his tenure. Some of his WTF reviews seem to reflect a desire to showcase ethnic eateries (Purple Yam, Tanoreen, Madangsui, etc.). Other WTF reviews may have been made to help people who don't go out to eat much, tourists and Jersey folk avoid making bad choices solely based upon a name (Lavo, Nello). Sifton may be trying to find a difficult balance between the NYT food reviewer's role as cultural arbiter of one of the world's finest food cities, and a desire to make the NYT food reviews accessible and relevant for all NYT readers.

[Marc Shepherd]

@Chris, thanks for the comment. I do not suggest that all of the “WTF” reviews were ill-judged. Every NYT critic has re-reviewed restaurants for no particular reason, except that the critic felt that they needed attention, either for a negative reason (Nello) or a positive one (Strip House). That is a legitimate part of Sifton’s job. Indeed, one of the strengths of the NYT system is that there is a way for restaurants to be re-reviewed. Practically all of the other media outlets in town (unless you count the Michelin Guide) review only new restaurants.

But there are tons of poor restaurants that tourists flock to because of a famous name. He could review another one every week, without running out. Is there any evidence that Nello is particularly known for sucking in unwary tourists? That did not seem to be the thesis of his review. Did we really need to know that Chin Chin is just slightly less good than it was 15 years ago? Was there any particular reason to single out Novità, when it is merely one of many dozens of roughly comparable neighborhood Italian places in the city?

Those were the kinds of questions I wanted to provoke.

[Chris]

Good points, thank you for the response. As a personal note, I was grateful for the Nello review since non-American billionaires are in the news quite a bit for spending enormous amounts of money there. I am glad that I can read a NYT review instead of having to spend a year's worth of disposable income to form my own opinion.

However, now that you bring up your provoking questions about WTF reviews, I wonder if the NYT dining page still feels that the Nello review was worth the damage to the critic's expense account ...

[Michael]

You must have been including pre-move ratings for your "correct' ones on Aureole and Oceana. Sifton's is closer to their current quality, but even then, too high.

[Matt Duckor]

Come on Marc, Torrisi is a two star restaurant.

[Marc Shepherd]

@Matt Duckor, nobody I’m aware of has made the argument that Torrisi is much better than Locanda Verde, Maialino, A Voce, Osteria Morini, or Peasant. All of those restaurants have two stars, or in the case of Morini, should have two.

But all of those restaurants take reservations, have much better wine lists, and offer other basic comforts that Torrisi does not. At the same time, Torrisi drastically simplifies its chefs’ lives, while drastically limiting the customer’s, by locking you into just ONE fixed long-format menu every day, with the only choice being the meat or fish entrée. At the other restaurants I named, there are multiple ways you could order, any day, to get yourself a meal as satisfying as Torrisi. And then, if you like your meal at Torrisi, there is no telling when the dish you liked will be offered again.

It therefore seems to me that if those other places are correctly rated at two stars, Torrisi simply has to be a notch lower, due to its numerous limitations. I mean, Locanda Verde, Peasant, et al offer many great pastas and entrées, every day of the week, that are as good or better as the one pasta and the two entrées that the Torrisi guys produce on any given day.

[Seth Gordon]

It seems like Sifty is squarely in the boat with the rest of the critics. Most of the above he's on par, the rest he only off by one star in either direction from the "correct" (as if there's such a thing) rating.

A good critic, though, isn't about the stars they dole out - a good critic will be able to give you a general idea of, whether they like the place/album/movie or not, you'll like it or not. Roger Ebert has always been the best of breed IMHO at that, where even when I disagree with his opion I find the review informative. I find Sifton closer to that ideal than Bruni - I respect both as writers, and as far as personal taste goes I find I agree with Sifty a little more, perhaps - he's not as starry-eyed over Haute French "white tablecloth" places as Bruni was.

I like that he hits out of the way and unexpected places. Did Xiao Ye need a review? Would Bruni have bothered with it? Probably not. But it was tapping into the zeitgeist, Eddie Huang was making a bit of noise downtown, and it was worth checking in on. And I like that he pays more attention to the outer boroughs than Bruni did - after all, it is the New York Times, not the Manhattan Times.

As for docking Torrisi a star because it offers a set menu - well, should Per Se have been ranked a star less (remember, there was no "salon" menu when they were reviewed) than Daniel, JG and Le Bernardin? (Not that I believe any of those are four-star restos anymore, personally...)

[Marc Shepherd]

@Seth Gordon: Thanks for the comments. I do agree that there is far more to good criticism than just, “Did he get the stars right?” Obviously, the column heading “correct rating” is meant to be taken light-heartedly; there clearly is no truly correct answer.

As you’ve noted, among those familiar with the star system, there is seldom more than a one-star margin of disagreement. That would be true under Bruni too. In 5+ years of his reviews, I can’t recall (offhand) an instance where my opinion of the correct rating was more than one star away from his. It certainly did not happen often.

I am going to add a clarification to the “WTF?” column. It’s merely an indication (again, lighthearted) that he didn’t have to review the place. I am not suggesting that none of them should have been.

I had thought about the Per Se analogy to Torrisi, so clearly I am not saying that restaurants should get docked a star for serving a fixed menu. But Per Se has two wholly separate fixed menus, and at the time it got four stars, it offered a prix fixe with multiple options per course. In giving three stars to Momofuku Ko (whereas Platt had given four), Bruni said explicitly, and I agree, that when you limit customer choice to such a severe extent, you need to meet a higher standard. And the fixed menu is merely one of many ways in which Torrisi is more limited than the restaurants in its peer group.