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Frank Bruni must be quivering with fear in his cushy New York Times office. The old guard of food writers now has to share notoriety with a new breed of fresh, young faces. Many of them are hip urbanites, tirelessly typing away about their restaurant endeavors every opening and closing, menu revision and liquor license dispute, chef change and previously uncovered piece of news. Restauranteurs and chefs had a lot to fear before, but bloggers are quicker and more thorough than newspaper and magazine reviewers. The bloggers are no longer strictly a counter culture. Some have incredible sophistication, high-quality writing and a quickly growing readership.
Danyelle Freeman, a 32-year-old Harvard Grad is easily the hottest girl in the blogosphere. She combines a young urban hipness with a genuine love for food, the dining experience and has an undeniable sex-appeal. Unlike the faceless food writers of the major publications, she is instantly recognizable, quite a feat for someone so petite. Her restaurant review blog www.restaurantgirl.com, was an instant success and brought her blogger-foodie-fame quicker than Jean-Georges can open another fusion restaurant in Manhattan. We sat down for lunch near her Upper West Side apartment and talked to Freeman about what it's like to make a name for herself as a food writer, meeting chefs, restaurateurs and dining in the most fabulous restaurants for a living.
Debonair: For someone who can authoritatively argue the merits of Robuchon’s sweetbreads over those at Prune and where to find the best foie gras or why Japanese Wagyu is better than domestic, how do you manage to maintain such a great figure?
Restaurant Girl: I’m not sure, the amount of eating I do is pretty crazy. This morning I had these incredible banana pecan pancakes (our food comes and she goes right after the blue cheese) and I have a big day of eating ahead of me.
