Reading Between the Lines of Frank Bruni's Seattle Article

Much like Hanna Raskin reviewing her own reviews, Seattle Magazine dining editor Allison Scheff analyzes what's left unspoken in Frank Bruni's giant New York Times piece on Seattle, engaging in a level of inside baseball that makes Eater all giddy inside. She confesses a "twinge of annoyance" that a writer and reporter of Bruni's caliber "fell so willingly into the town cliches" of biking, weather and such. Then there's his carefully worded take on Willows Inn:

He goes to the edge but doesn't quite call Blaine Wetzel's food at Willows Inn derivative. Then again, how would most of us ever know? I can count on one finger the number of people I know personally who've eaten at both Noma and at Willows. But Wetzel was Bruni's English-speaking contact when Bruni visited Denmark for last year's glorious Noma story. So Bruni would know, but he pulls back. Why?

By way of background, Willows chef Blaine Wetzel came to Lummi Island from the mighty Copenhagen restaurant Noma, currently ranked number one in the world. Scheff's got a few thoughts on Bruni's treatment of Golden Beetle as well.

Additionally one Eater commenter pointed out that Walrus & the Carpenter has become somewhat of a critical darling, but chef Renee Erickson doesn't get name-checked the way chefs at other similarly beloved restaurants do. A fair point. Funny the discussions that surface in the wake of a little New York scrutiny.

· Food News: RN74 Opens, Frank Bruni Eats Seattle for the New York Times [Seattle Mag]
[Photo: Eater Seattle]