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Waiting for Bruni: A Meal in Three Acts

Posted by Ed Levine, April 18, 2007 at 10:00 AM

I had never been in a restaurant the very evening the New York Times rendered its verdict, but last night I found myself at Esca waiting for Bruni (instead of Godot). At 7 p.m I was dining with an old friend I hadn't seen in 30 years, and I don't know what she made of the parade of people coming to our table desperately seeking some inkling of what Chairman Bruni might say. I had to tell them I had no knowledge, that the number of stars Bruni is about to bestow on a restaurant is a closely held bit of information that is the closest thing the New York Times has to a state secret. First Simon, the managing partner of Esca, came over seeking some Bruni solace, right before our first flight of impossibly fresh and delicious crudo arrived at the table. Then Katie, the chef de cuisine, came over to tell us she had spoken to Bruni numerous times yesterday, as had David Pasternack, the chef-partner, "fish whisperer," and my co-author on the upcoming The Young Man and the Sea cookbook/memoir.

8:15 p.m.: By the time our main courses appeared (crispy flounder with mint for my friend Martha, ridiculously nutty and candy-sweet scallops with fresh chick peas and fennel for me), Dave Pasternack and his wife, Donna, had arrived at the restaurant to await Bruni's verdict. Far from dressing up for the occasion, Dave was wearing a white T-shirt with, no surprise here, a fish logo.

"When the hell is it going to come out?" Dave asked as he pulled up a chair at our table.

In this new media era, the review first appears online somewhere between 8 and 10 p.m. Dave pointed out that in the old, pre-web days, chefs and restaurateurs, and playwrights and producers, would walk over to the Times Building and get one of the first copies of the printed paper that had come in from the printing plant in Queens. I told him that neither I nor anyone else could guess when it would publish, that it was in the hands of the Internet gods now.

9 p.m.: My wife, Dave's literary agent, joins us for dessert, extraordinary Meyer lemon layer cake, affogato (a shot of espresso poured over caramel ice cream), and an almost flourless chocolate espresso cake with espresso ice cream. At the small restaurant bar located a few feet from us, Dave, Donna, Simon, and one of Dave's restaurateur partners, Joe Bastianich, were all gathered sipping wine, Joe checking his Blackberry every few seconds for the review.

10 p.m.: I'm not sure anyone can bear to wait another second. I look up from our conversation to see Dave hugging everyone around him, and high-fiving surprised and delighted customers on their way to the bathroom who probably had no idea why this T-shirt–clad guy built like a linebacker was giving them some skin. The review was in. Three stars. Bruni had spoken: "Given all the talk about horse whisperers and dog whisperers, it's impossible not to wonder: Is Dave Pasternack a fish whisperer?" And this, which is the absolute truth: "He's an honest-to-God fisherman, in love with the ocean, and Esca is his ongoing ode to it."

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Tags: Dave Pasternack, Esca, Frank Bruni, New York Times