The Payoff: Rosanjin

As expected, Frank Bruni awarded two stars to Rosanjin.

It’s hard to complain about this review. Yes, it displays the usual Bruni foible of dancing around the subject, instead of hitting it straight on. By my count, it’s not until the 15th paragraph that Bruni actually says anything about the food. Once he gets there, he mostly loves it.

But in other ways, I have to give Bruni some credit—which I’ve seldom had occasion to do. Until now, Bruni has mostly been known for smacking down sacred cows, and giving rave reviews to places the foodies had long ago discovered. Unlike the Duke of Plaza-Toro, Frank Bruni didn’t lead fashions; he followed them. What kind of critic are you, if all you do is ratify other people’s judgments? With Rosanjin, you could say he “discovered” a place that practically everyone else had ignored.

I would add that I haven’t been to Rosanjin, so I have no idea if the rave is deserved. But at least Bruni, for the first time that I can recall, actually led critical opinion about something, rather than just ratifying it.

Eater and I both took the two-star bet at 5–1 odds, winning $5 apiece.

	Eater		NYJ
Bankroll	$10		$14
Gain/Loss	+$5		+$5
Total	+$15		+$19
* * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost	5–1		5–1

Comments

[Michael]

For another review of Rosanjin see:

http://countryepicure.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/rosanjin/