Bruni Does Penthouse

[livetotravel]

I don't think I've ever read a more surreal review - Bruni finally ventures out of his personal comfort zone and we get this? I think this may be one of the biggest wastes of print space in the history of restaurant reviews!
http://events.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/...

[jasmurph]

I thought the review was an embarrassment, and I'm a big fan of Bruni.

His reviews have gotten really wierd lately, however. Considering he started off so well, with a thoughtful and cogent piece on why Babbo was a 3 rather than 4 star restaurant, it's odd that a few years later he would award 2 and 3 stars to places that have good food (Momofuku Ssam and The Modern Bar Room) but nothing approaching the level of service, attention to detail, and setting that a 3 and even a 2 star place should have. Yes, stars are already vague designations, but it doesn't help at all to have 3 stars awarded to WD-50, Eleven Madison Park, and the Bar Room.

I wonder if he knows how popular he is now and feels empowered to write whaterver he likes about whereever. Sure he can do that, but I think he's running the risk of becoming completely frivolous, and that would be a shame.

[Robert Lauriston]

Two stars means "very good" as regards "the reviewer’s reaction to food, ambience and service, with price taken into consideration."

So a two-star rating for relatively inexpensive places such as Momofuku Ssam and Joe's Shanghai means something quite different than it does for expensive places such as Aureole and Le Perigord.

[Striver]

A fun review to read that effectively told me what I wanted to know: surprisingly good steaks, totally bizarre ambience; the description of the "buttery nipple" dessert was worth the whole article. Reviews are always about the critic as much as they're about the restaurant; at least Bruni is transparent about this.

[JasmineG]

That was a hilarious review.

[steve h.]

my overall take is that bruni is having entirely too much fun. tweaking chodorow at all levels of "taste" may only be the beginning. can't wait to see what's next.

[artemisanne]

The puns were monstrous- the whole thing was much better suited to his Diner's Blog, not for print space- I read it online- was the article in the actual print NYT? Not really a food article- the revenge/hidden agenda theory makes complete sense, given it's surreality.

[BronxBoy]

If he had treated Kobe Club the same way, he would have been better off. Both places are restaurants second, clubs first. The main attraction is not the steaks at either joint.

[Robert Lauriston]

He couldn't have treated Kobe Club the same way, since it doesn't have half-dressed "entertainers" coming to the table offering massages or whatever.

[Robert Lauriston]

Maybe you missed the paragraph in the middle where he said the steak was better than Peter Luger's?

[BronxBoy]

I agree Bruni is exacting revenge on Chodorow. But I also am tired of reading about Frank Bruni in his own reviews. He is lost.

[Robert Lauriston]

That might be the funniest restaurant review I've ever read.

[livetotravel]

I would love to belive that story line ;-) Ruhlman agrees with you also.

[Andrew P.]

Upon looking, it seems like it's Anthony Bourdain (guest-blogging on Ruhlman) who agrees with me. Nice to know I'm not alone, just in the company of my absolute favorite articulate, profane, wild-eyed sociopath. Love you, Tony!

[Andrew P.]

I too think it's surreal, eye-rolling, and silly, but in a good way.

But here's my take:
this review is Bruni's way of exacting revenge on Chodorow. I mean, how often does Bruni do two separate reviews of steakhouses in the same month?

By giving Penthouse / Robert's one star and a fairly favorable review, he's telling Chodorow that even STRIP CLUBS have better steak than Kobe Club.

You can dangle all the blade-down samurai swords you want (btw, this probably the most un-feng-shui thing imaginable), but the place with a functional broiler wins.

[Robert Lauriston]

Bruni had to have had this review of Robert's in the pipeline long before Chodorow's ad appeared last week. Most likely was working on it before his Kobe Club review was published.