Sam Sifton (born June 5, 1966) is an American journalist and assistant managing editor at ''The New York Times.'' He previously served as the paper's food editor. Sifton has also worked as deputy dining editor (2001); dining editor (2001–04); deputy culture editor (2004–2005), culture editor (2005–2009), restaurant critic (2009-2011), and national editor (2011-2014).

Early life

Sifton was born on June 5, 1966, to the Hon. Charles Proctor Sifton, a senior district judge of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

, and Elisabeth Sifton, a senior vice president at

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

and author of ''The Serenity Prayer'' (2003). His maternal grandfather was the theologian

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...

and his maternal grandmother was Ursula Niebuhr, the author of ''Remembering Reinhold Niebuhr'' (2001) and founder of the

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Religion Department. Sifton graduated magna cum laude from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

with an A.B. degree in history and literature in 1988.

Career

Sifton began his journalism career as assistant editor for '' American Heritage'' magazine in 1988. From 1990 to 1994, he taught social studies in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

public school system. Sifton held a number of positions at the weekly ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

'' during his tenure there from 1990 to 1998, including restaurant critic, contributing editor, senior editor, media critic, and managing editor. Sifton was a founding editor of '' Talk'' in 1998 before coming to the ''Times'' in 2001. In October 2009, Sifton succeeded Frank Bruni as restaurant critic for the ''Times''. Sifton's last review"Per Se - A Critic Selects a Last Meal"
/ref> as restaurant critic was published October 11, 2011. He was succeeded by

Pete Wells Peter Andrew Wells (born 1963) is an American journalist who was the restaurant critic for ''The New York Times'' from 2011 to 2024. Early life and career Wells was adopted as an infant by Shirley and Raymond Wells and grew up in Rhode Islan ...

Personal life

Sifton is married to Tina Fallon, an independent theatre producer, and resides in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. They have two children

Works

*Sifton, Sam, Malosh, D., & New York Times Company. (2021). ''The New York Times Cooking No Recipe Recipes''. New York: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1529109833.

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

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* * *

References

External links

Articles by Sam Sifton
on the New York Times website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sifton, Sam 1966 births Living people Harvard College alumni New York Press people Talk (magazine) people American male journalists The New York Times editors Place of birth missing (living people) American restaurant critics The New York Times journalists