Rolling the Dice: Centro Vinoteca

Every week, we take our turn with Lady Luck on the BruniBetting odds as posted by Eater. Just for kicks, we track Eater’s bet too, and see who is better at guessing what the unpredictable Bruni will do. We track our sins with an imaginary $1 bet every week.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Centro Vinoteca, the latest in a long line of neighborhood Italian joints that have caught his eye. The Eater oddsmadkers have set the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

Zero Stars: 5-1
One Star: 3-1
Two Stars: 4-1 √√
Three Stars: 50-1
Four Stars: 25,000-1

The Skinny: The official odds reflect the randomness of Bruni’s ratings. When Frank is driving the bus, almost anything is possible, from a rather dull one star to an enthusiastic deuce. How many Italian “formula” restaurants can get two stars? Frank tends to reserve that rating for the earnest family-owned places (like Sfoglia)…which this isn’t.

The Bet: We are betting that Frank Bruni will award one star to Centro Vinoteca. Wake me up when it’s over.