Sweet and Salty News

Culinary Arts

4 articles

A solitary restaurant critic looking disheartened as a smartphone screen floods the table with rapid influencer review videos.
The Critic's Table

Restaurant Critics Face Extinction as Public Reviews Dominate 2026.

On platforms like TikTok, 30-second influencer reviews are rapidly replacing the nuanced critiques of professional restaurant critics and food writers.

Ezra Kaplan·September 13, 2026
An AI interface analyzing a gourmet dish in a restaurant, symbolizing the clash between algorithmic data and the subjective experience of dining.
The Critic's Table

The future of restaurant criticism 2026: Algorithmic reviews miss the real flavor.

Liora, an AI-powered review platform, now boasts 100 million active users, dwarfing the readership of even the most popular traditional food blogs, according to Liora Annual Report, 2023.

Ezra Kaplan·September 11, 2026
An empty, dimly lit restaurant table with a wilting rose, symbolizing the decline of restaurant criticism and the uncertain future of food journalism.
The Critic's Table

Restaurant critics are retiring, and food journalism's future is uncertain.

In the past decade, 70% of major metropolitan newspapers have either eliminated or significantly reduced their full-time restaurant critic positions.

Ezra Kaplan·July 16, 2026
Top Chef Barista Champion Duyen Ha proudly displays her trophy and a signature latte at her bustling Portland coffee shop, 'The Daily Grind'.
The Daily Grind

Top Chef Barista Champion Duyen Ha Celebrates Historic Win

Just hours after Duyen Ha was crowned the 2024 Top Chef Barista Champion, her Portland coffee shop, 'The Daily Grind,' saw foot traffic surge by an astonishing 300%, with lines stretching down the blo

Raffi Hovsepian·May 20, 2026