Frank Bruni, the NYT Rome bureau chief, has been announced as the new NYT restaurant critic. Additionally, Eric Asimov has been named the chief wine critic. (There is such a thing?)

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To the staff, from Barbara Graustark and Sam Sifton:

We are thrilled to announce the new restaurant critic for The Times. He is Frank Bruni, our bureau chief in Rome.
Frank brings to the coverage of restaurant dining a true and longstanding passion; any close reader of his clips will see how often he tries to sneak food into his coverage of popes and presidents alike. A superb reporter and storyteller, a Pulitzer finalist, a war correspondent, and an accomplished feature writer, Frank started his journalism career in the early 1990's with a stint as a film critic for The Detroit Free Press. And he retains a critic's soul.
As we discovered during our illuminating search for the best candidate, Frank's writing about restaurants displays not only real and considered knowledge about the food on the plate - vital, given the weight of Times restaurant reviews - but also true empathy for the diner. We know his writing will serve not just members of the food elite, but the reader looking for voyeuristic pleasure, and the out-of-towner for whom restaurants are a form of entertainment. Frank understands that it is not enough to be smart about food; it is important to digress from the dishes at hand and explore wider thoughts on eating out in New York. He will be a worthy successor to Biff Grimes.
We are also delighted to announce the appointment of Eric Asimov as chief wine critic for The Times.
Eric is an authority in the worlds of wining and dining. Since joining The Times in September 1984, he has earned the trust of readers and colleagues alike as editor of the Living section, as a reporter and radio personality, and as the sage of takeout food. The ``$25 & Under'' columnist since its founding, Eric scours every neighborhood in Manhattan and the boroughs to report on an enormously diverse range of eating experiences. Along with the esteemed Frank Prial (who will continue to write his ``Wine Talk'' column as well as to contribute articles on vinous subjects), Eric helped start The Times's wine panel in 2002 and he will continue to administer the panel while covering the world of wine as a beat.
Eric has a rare and wonderful palate, and a big brain filled with memories of wines tasted, spat out, and savored. He has a populist's touch to explain it. He begins on June 2.
Consider the ``$25 & Under'' gig posted.