Isn’t New York Supposed to Have All the Stars?
Those of you who couldn't wait for the New York Times to hit the publish button last night—and you know who you are—have already dissected this piece like a lab specimen. But for you non-obsessives, here's critic Frank Bruni's review of Fiamma, the sort-of Italian, sort-of not restaurant that lured away former Maestro toque (and Beard Award winner) Fabio Trabocchi.
Before Trabocchi split for the Big Apple, he earned four stars from both the Washington Post and the Washingtonian. In Bruni's estimation, the chef rates no better than three. Is this a case of D.C. critics being too easy or the Times being too hard? Or perhaps New Yorkers just can't hand out four stars to newcomers, particularly those from the District. Discuss.
6:04 pm
Well, you gotta admit the competition in NYC is just a tad higher than here in the mighty DoC.
11:30 pm
No matter how many stars, it seemed pretty much a rave review to me.
2:45 am
Having been to both Maestro and Fiamma since Fabio started, I think the respective 4 and 3 star ratings were accurate at the time. However, considering that the 4 star DC rating was after Maestro had been in operation for a couple of years, and that Fabio has only been at Fiamma for a couple of months, I have no doubt that Fiamma will soon merit a 4 star ranking. In the last 3 months, Fiamma has gotten into its groove and is now better than ever.
At this point, I would rank Fiamma on par with other top NYC restaurants, such as Bouley or Daniel.
4:32 am
Washington critics are too easy. I have lost count of the number of restaurants that get raves here, and yet manage to disappoint me time after time.