BruniBetting: Daniel

Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Daniel, the flagship of Daniel Boulud's restaurant empire, just out the other side of a significant face-lift. Today, the Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows:

Zero Stars: 500-1
One Star: 499-1
Two Stars: 498-1
Three Stars: 4-1
Four Stars: 2-1 ??

With the filing of this review, El Brunisimo will have personally weighed-in on each of the four star restaurants in New York. Barring a beating tomorrow, only Alain Ducasse—update: and Bouley—will have been downgraded, with all others having gotten re-confirmed as members of the elite club. The smart money today is on four stars for Daniel, on the premise that Bruni's historical soft spot for Boulud's restaurants in combination with Restaurant Daniel's extremely high level of overall experience will carry the day. One small matter of concern is Daniel's formality, which is something Monsieur Bruni doesn't take kindly to as a general matter. Our instinct today, however, is that whatever doubt Bruni does have will be far outweighed by the simple fact that not even the Bruni could get away with downgrading one of New York's great restaurants while the rest of the city burns. Four stars for Daniel. Book it.
· Daniel [NYT; after 8:00 PM]
?? denotes the Eater bet.

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Daniel

60 East 65th Street, Manhattan, NY 10065 (212) 288-0033 Visit Website