Frank Bruni leaving New York Times Dining section

[Kaelin]

Sad news for Wednesday mornings; a high bar has been set for the next reviewer.

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.co...

[Simon]

hmmm...on one hand, i'll miss the often hilariously accurate negative reviews

on the other hand, perhaps they'll hire someone who knows something about Asian food, so we won't have to read purile lines like "I love sushi. It's so clean!" (in his review of Sushi Azabu) or random neophyte raves for places that are merely ok (Oriental Garden)...

[squid kun]

But one commendable change at the NYT that coincided with his tenure was greater attention to non-Western cuisines. It was Bruni who reviewed Sripraphai ( http://events.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/dining/reviews/03REST.html ), and that piece ran in the lead review position, not the $25-and-under slot where Thai restaurants were relegated in the past.

The dining section editors, as much as Bruni, have been responsible for the changing focus. It's resulted in great reporting like last summer's takeout on Flushing's Chinese food courts ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/din... ), among other topics.