Famed Food Critic Frank Bruni Delights Packed Center Audience
Guest Post by Otto Coca
Frank Bruni joined the Center’s venerable Second Tuesday lecture series recently for an event that was ostensibly about his best-selling memoir Born Round, but Bruni’s fame as a food critic and as the first openly gay op-ed contributor to the New York Times dominated much of the lively discussion.
With the room at capacity, event coordinator Howard Williams introduced Mr. Bruni with an anecdote about having read his writing when they both lived in Detroit and Mr. Bruni worked for the Detroit Free Press. “I thought Frank might be gay when he reviewed a restaurant of questionable merit by saying ‘Where only the salad is well dressed.’” To laughter and high-spirits, Frank Bruni took to the podium and announced that this wouldn’t be a lecture, per se, but that he would prefer to simply take questions and the audience was ready and eager to comply.
“What is this preoccupation with food? I don’t get it!” was the very first question to Mr. Bruni as the audience let out an embarrassed gasp. Mr. Bruni seemed as amused and surprised as the ‘foodies’ in the audience. “Some say food is the new theatre, but I think it’s really the new porn,” he quipped and many clearly agreed with him. For a writer who has published an acclaimed book about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, A Gospel of Shame: Children, Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church, 1993 with Elinor Burkett; and published his experiences following George W. Bush on the campaign trail in Ambling Into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush, 2002, it was clear that this audience saw him as a ‘Food Icon’ and Mr. Bruni obliged.
“Did you wear disguises?” kicked off a lively discussion as many in the audience revealed themselves to be restaurant professionals and advanced home chefs. “I’ve worked in food service for over 20 years. How do you feel about writing and commenting on someone’s creativity?” For this Mr. Bruni became very serious and explained that he believed his main responsibility was to the customer for whom a fine-dining experience could run hundreds of dollars. “The chef or restaurateur has all the support and encouragement, but the diner goes in alone. I don’t try to insult anyone’s creativity but I do need to keep the patron first in mind.”
It was 45-minutes into the lecture when the conversation turned briefly to politics. Someone with a long memory for New York City social issues asked, “When do you think the homophobic nature of the New York Times changed?” This was a challenging question for Mr. Bruni, now a respected voice at the Times. Mr. Bruni thought that AIDS effectively brought about the change and talked of a beloved journalist at the Times who had died and whose passing forced a re-consideration of the way the Times addressed gay issues. While the questioner did not seem to completely agree, and the ensuing conversation was simply too nuanced and thoughtful to paraphrase, it was illuminating for all present to listen to two individuals with relevant points of view amicably agreeing to disagree on the issue of the Times’ LGBT sensitivity.
Before the evening was finished we did learn some important facts: the lamb burger at The Breslin comes highly recommended; he has tried disguises, twice, and it wasn’t worth the effort and finally, that Mr. Bruni is indeed ‘taken’ with a boyfriend in kidney research with whom he seems very fond. A very enjoyable evening , and as the crowd exited down the stairs, one young man holding a paperback of Born Round said to a friend, “I wanted to talk more about the book!” But he did not seem at all disappointed.