BruniBetting: Rouge Tomate

Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Rouge Tomate, the Brussels-based health food store slash spa restaurant in the East 60s. Today, the Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows:

Zero Stars: 3-1
One Star: 4-1
Two Stars: 3-1 ??
Three Stars: 60-1
Four Stars: 20,000-1

In his first review of 2009, the Bruni in the Machine sets his sights on an outlier, if this restaurant's comparative unwillingness to use fat is the barometer. The menu is based on a set of European nutritional guidelines that has been mentioned too many times elsewhere to mention again here. But, suffice it to say that this restaurant is, aggressively and by design, quite a bit more healthy than, say, Peter Luger. If it's a one star review, Brunzy is reviewing it for the sake of the conversation, which is in our estimation less likely than either a slam—few new restaurants spent more on monthly rent and buildout than Rouge did—or a congratulatory deuce for turning egg whites and bean sprouts into cuisine. Factor in, too, the rest of the critic pack, who have really quite liked the place, most notably Danyelle Freeman, the least controversial judge in the land, who gave it four of five of her sweet little RG stars. Plus, nobody puts a two star sheen on one star restaurants better than Baltz Co., and Rouge Tomate is, indeed, a Baltz Co. client. So, let's do this: Two luke-warm stars for Rouge Tomate. Now who's in for a wheatgrass shot?
· Rouge Tomate [NYT; after 8:00 PM]
?? denotes the Eater bet.