What do you need to become a food critic?

Receiving your high school diploma or GED and earning a degree in a field such as creative writing, journalism or communications can increase your chances of getting a job as a food critic. You can also attend a culinary arts school to expand your knowledge of food and its diverse preparation styles. Becoming a food critic is an excellent option for someone who enjoys different types of food and is passionate about writing. Ideally, they should have a very demanding palate, extensive knowledge related to cuisines from a variety of cultures, and the ability to write about food in an entertaining and informative way.

To become one, you'll have to be willing to try a lot of different foods to familiarize yourself with different cooking styles and be able to talk about them. For food writers, a little training in culinary arts or education in a food-related field can be another advantage. Most restaurant critics don't accept free food from restaurants to maintain fairness. You must be a good writer who can analyze food and create a compelling story about restaurant food.

Some restaurant critics get this experience by blogging about restaurants or writing independent articles about food.

Food critics

usually visit a restaurant several times to try different dishes at different times of the day. Familiarize yourself with the main food critics and dive into the food industry to gain important experience. It's more common for food critics to work as freelancers, meaning that they sell their articles to websites, blogs, and magazines on a contract basis.

But also remember that there are only about five people in the whole United Kingdom who earn their living as restaurant critics (I don't like the expression “food critic”, since it makes me think of people who smell dishes and I like restaurants more in general). Since most food critic jobs don't provide a full-time income and many critics supplement their income with other writing jobs, gaining experience in all types of journalism is probably the best way to prepare for the job of restaurant food critic. Write about anything, and later on, you might be able to move on to writing about food. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not collect data on food critics specifically or on journalists in general.

Food critics review restaurants and other food vendors for newspapers, magazines, websites, and sometimes for television. Most food critics and other working journalists have bachelor's degrees, usually in journalism, English, communications, or related specializations.