Four Stars for Eleven Madison Park Tomorrow?

Well, this is honestly something of a surprise. Frankie Big Boi Bruni is revisiting Elven Madison Park for his penultimate review. While the choice of EMP is not a surprise -- Bruni has been seen dining there several times in the past few months -- the fact that this is his second to last review, and his second review of a Danny Meyer restaurant in two weeks, does seem a bit strange. [bxA]I honestly thought that Bruni would save EMP for his last review and file in on Marea tomorrow. Now I don't even think we can be certain that he will review Marea next week. I mean, would he really go out with a review of a restaurant that every other critic has already filed a rave for? I think for his last review he might choose something small and under the radar, if for no other reason than it would give him an opportunity to speak to how much the dining world has changed during his tenure with the Times. That being said, I am almost certain that he is going to give Eleven Madison Park four stars tomorrow. Here's why:

• Bruni loves it. He's reviewed EMP twice already, and he might want to give it the fourth star to show how it has progressed since its opening -- a progression which happened exclusively during his tenure with the Times.

• He robbed Danny Meyer of a star last week with his review of Union Square Cafe. Adding a star to EMP would restore the karmic balance between New York's greatest restauranteur and its greatest food critic.

• This would only be the second time in five years that Bruni crowned a restaurant with its fourth star. Masa was the first, but the other members of the Four Star Club -- Le Bernadin, Per Se, Jean Georges and Daniel -- already had their four stars when Bruni passed through; he just confirmed their four star status.

• By adding Eleven Madison Park to this elite list of four star restaurants, Bruni would be anointing one of the more reasonably priced, less established fine dining restaurants in New York. He's a democratic man, with an eye towards value -- EMP is exactly in line with his sensibility where price is concerned. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, to satiate your cravings for any and all things Bruni, here is a new photo of the man that was just released today (he's on the left).