Frank Bruni
Photo: Soo-Jeong Kang
In the foodie circles of New York City, Frank Bruni needs no introduction: up until last week, he was The New York Times’ restaurant critic. Upon the occasion of the release of his memoir, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater, in which he confronts his dysfunctional relationship with food, he chatted with the Buzz about what it was like being the most powerful critical voice in the New York restaurant scene.
Zagat Buzz: You were the first Times critic to have a blog. How has that helped or hindered the job?
Frank Bruni: A lot of resources and staffing of a lot of news organizations have decreased, so I think the blog represents a new heightened pressure on a restaurant critic to provide content. But it was nice to have another outlet for single visits to restaurants and thoughts or observations that don’t fit neatly within the parameters of a review.
ZB: Because of the Internet there has been a rise in the forum for public opinion, which has prompted debate on how powerful the role of the Times critic remains. What’s your take on that?
FB: I think the Times critic’s voice is muffled slightly by the profusion of voices out there, but that voice is still plenty loud. With the Times critics you know what the person’s method of survey was and you know the person is an independent voice. With criticism on the Internet, it’s not clear whether it’s coming from an invested or un-invested party. It’s completely unclear whether the person rendering an opinion has had anything other than one entree on one night long ago at the restaurant. The Times is one of the only places to go for an opinion that is informed by multiple visits to a restaurant for an opinion that is not indebted to anyone, that is truly independent in an economic and ideological sense.
ZB: How did you feel about the star system?
FB: The star system is very imperfect because there are so many restaurants that hover between two ratings. But consumers want handy measures, whether it be a number on the Zagat rating or a number of stars, and I think stars are consumer-friendly and they are such a part of New York Times and New York restaurant-scene lore.
ZB: What was the biggest surprise for you about the NY dining scene over the last five years?
FB: I was surprised at how every year Italian food took another leap forward in terms of it becoming fine-dining food in New York. I’ve been surprised to see just how cult-popular a lot of foods that seem to have fallen out of nutritional favor 10 years ago have become. I lived through years of the pork belly explosion, the bacon explosion, the hamburger, fried chicken... these sorts of foods have really been embraced in an enthusiastic and really expansive way.
ZB: What has been the biggest disappointment?
FB: I still feel there are certain wonderful cuisines that aren’t amply represented among the top tiers of New York restaurants. I wish we had a first-rate three- or four-star-level Chinese restaurant. I would say the same thing about Middle Eastern.
ZB: Which food trends over the last five years do you hope will stay?
FB: The one we just talked about, in terms of caloric comfort food, and a worship of meat. I’m very happy with those sticking around. I think the city’s wine lists have improved remarkably during my tenure. It’s not so much that the wine lists of great restaurants have improved, but the attention that restaurants at a one- or two-star level will pay to their wine list and entire beverage program [has improved]. The array and quality of beverages in a restaurant has grown much more intense and sophisticated over the last five years. I don’t think it will go away.
ZB: Which trends do you hope will go away?
FB: I think we are overly invested in small plates. I think we are overly invested in menu segmentation where you’ve got snacks and sides and this and that. There are too many restaurants that feel to me, as a consumer and a critic, not like freedom of choice but the tyranny of bill gouging – and you can tell which ones they are when you look at the menu. There are a few too many $8 and $9 sides on menus around town. But they may be going away now that we are in recessed economic times.
ZB: What was the most profound thing that you learned about yourself through the job?
FB: I think this job requires an incredible amount of stamina and a pretty thick skin. I suspected I had the stamina, but I wasn’t sure I had the skin. And I’m relieved that my skin turned out to be a little thicker than I feared that it was.
It was such an exciting challenge, and if you want to challenge yourself, you need to expose yourself. I would remind myself constantly, ‘You are the biggest spoiled brat and baby if you accept all of the privileges of a position like this and then let yourself get upset about the scrutiny and the cat calls.’ You can’t wring your hands and engage in a personal sob story over the fact that sometimes people are mean to you because you have been given an incredible privilege. There should be a price for the privilege.
ZB: In terms of people being ‘mean to you,’ in the book you share some of the fiery reactions to negative reviews from people like Jeffrey Chodorow and Keith McNally. Did you get equally passionate responses for good reviews?
FB: Absolutely. One example: I got an e-mail from Maria Hines, the proprietor and chef of Tilth in Seattle, which I rated 9 on a list of recommended places in the nation, and she said, ‘I have needed another bathroom since we opened, but I didn’t have the money. Within a couple of months of that write-up our revenues went up so much that I had the money to put in another bathroom, and I want you to know that I am going to casually refer to it as the Bruni Memorial Bathroom.’ That is just the biggest thrill in the world to know that you have the opportunity, when someone is doing really good, earnest work, to be part of the reward.
ZB: When you gave Minetta Tavern a good review, did Keith McNally apologize for calling you a sexist because of your review of Morandi?
FB: No. I think that what Keith McNally said was ridiculous, and I wouldn’t even want an apology for it.
ZB: I thought it was interesting that you picked such a modest spot, The Redhead, for your final review. Can you explain that choice?
FB: I didn’t think I should make a big deal of my final review because the Times has a grand tradition of restaurant criticism and restaurant critics, and I was just a link in a chain. I thought making a big deal of my last review would just be the wrong thing. It would send a self-important message that would be inconsistent with the way I saw my role.
ZB: At what point did you decide to leave and why?
FB: I always thought I’d do this three or four years tops. I’d never done a beat or a job in journalism more than three years. I figured this book’s release would come at a time that I was ready on an emotional level to leave the job.
– Kathleen Squires