Both Restaurant Journal and Eater are predicting Bruni will award three stars to Momofuku Ko. Tomorrow, when his final word comes out after much hair-pulling, the armchair reviewing will be mute — but we were intrigued by a bit of trivia that New York Journal unearthed: Bruni hasn’t thrown down four stars in 175 weeks, meaning that he has exactly matched the Times’ longest stretch without a four-star rave (Bryan Miller upgraded Bouley to four stars in 1990, and Ruth Reichl did the same with Chanterelle in 1993). So where will that record stand after Ko — and will the handiwork of the Times’ photographer, who was in during the same night that Tom and Gael were, shed any light on that whole affair?
Update: Bruni’s review is up and it is, indeed, three stars— after noting the off-putting set-up and resy system, he concedes, “Ko in its early months serves a few dishes that merely intrigue along with others that utterly enrapture. It also falls prey to some inconsistency.” On Chang: “Deification may have come prematurely to Mr. Chang. But a low-key coronation makes sense.” And: “You’ll love it, provided you ever get access to it.” Well, yeah.
Rolling The Dice: Momofuku Ko [New York Journal]
BruniBetting: Ko [Eater]
