Frank Bruni’s Career as a Restaurant Critic

Frank Bruni’s name is famous in New York culinary circles. But his face was virtually unknown until he resigned in August as the New York Times restaurant critic. After five years on the eating trail, Bruni is stepping down to become a writer with the Sunday Magazine and to promote his book, Born Round: The History of a Full-Time Eater. Before his unveiling, Bruni caught up with Big Think to talk about life as a reviewer– technically, a political-journalist-turned-reviewer. Bruni explains the science of evaluating (is there really one?) and the challenge of avoiding cliche (how many ways can you say succulent?). Plus, what makes a four-star restaurant (hint: it’s not just the food). Bruni also weighs in on the farm table movement, a trend he believes is here to stay, and how it will be challenging for New York City restaurants to keep up.