Daniel loses a star, aka Four No More!

So I read the review of the standard DANIEL. Bouluds flagship restaurant here in NYC. Until today an elite member of the 4-star club along with Per Se, EMP, Del Posto, Le Bernardin and Jean Georges.

I don't feel like it is so shocking to make it a mere 3 star resto but what critic Pete Wells did to come to his conclusion was a bit cracked. He pulled a move where his reservation started 15 minutes after a colleagues' reservation and wrote it from a point of view of what they DID NOT get from the kitchen.

Every place worth it's salt knows what every reviewer looks like or at least has an idea. In knowing this every server/waiter/foh person knows that they are to be on high alert and when they show up to go bring their a game. Not that every customer should not be treated as well, but a yelp review is not as damaging as the New York Times. This is not uncommon. If you are my friend and come to see me where I work, you would get the same treatment. It is my objective to get as much food as I can down your throat as I can before you roll yourself out of the place. The chef here merely sent some extra small bites to "show off" and got dinged for it because of it.

He back peddles a bit with : "restaurant can't be blamed for trying to impress a critic. It can be faulted, though, for turning its best face away from the unknowns, the first-timers, the birthday splurgers, the tourists." but that doesn't really heal the loss of a star. Especially to a place like that.

I am not a huge fan of the man's style most of the time but this seems a little like he was looking to "get one over" on the old guard. After the Guy Fieri low blow I am a little disappointed.