In tomorrow's paper, Sam Sifton will weigh in on Strip House, the Greenwich Village steak house that received one star from Biff Grimes a decade ago.
THE PLAYBOOK: Given the restaurant is not new, has no new chef, no new menu, and no real reason to attract reviewers, Sifton's gotta be filing on Strip House because he likes the place. It's a solid restaurant that's been minding its own business since it was reviewed back in 2000. He shouldn't goose it. That would be too cruel. And he already used up his goose juice last week. Either he'll reinstate the restaurant's long held one star ranking or, as smart money has it, he'll bump it up to a two. The restaurant is not a straight up Luger clone, but it executes flawlessly on a steak house template.
SIFT HAPPENS: There's no real wild card play here. The critic has been harsh of late, but not harsh enough to downgrade something out of the blue. If Sifty wants to do something crazy, he'll throw a three.
THE LINE: Goose Egg: 200-1; One Star: 3-1; Two Stars: 2-1; Three Stars: 75-1; Four Stars 2,000 - 1. [Strip House, NYT ~8PM]
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