freeman Danyelle Freeman, food blogger Restaurant Girl, has been tapped to become the New York Daily News' next food critic. As many an Eater commenter has remarked, the only problem is that Freeman—an alumna of both Harvard and Duke, as she notes on her website—can't write. She cadges free meals from PR people—and she's oft-photographed and therefore never incognito. She also closes her correspondence with, "Until we eat again." She can be thought of as the Julia Allison of the food world: Cheaply attractive, ethically limber and relentlessly successful.

Freeman has been accused of shilling for restaurants—she denies it. But her response to the clearly troubling fact that everyone knows what she looks like (she played Maria Giaculo on the Sopranos and plasters her face everywhere she can) isn't reassuring.

I want to give chefs and restaurants their best opportunity to communicate a vision. Restaurants aren't running out to grab different ingredients or a new chef simply because you're recognizable. Besides, let's be honest, everyone knows what Frank Bruni looks like. There are photos of him in every important kitchen in NYC.

Yeah—grainy blown-up photographs taken six or seven years ago, when Bruni was about 30 pounds heavier. (That Rome posting was carb-heavy!) The truth is that Bruni doesn't get recognized the moment he first sets foot in a restaurant.

Perhaps the most succulent morsel in this sordid story of sex, fame and food is alluded to by the 27th commenter on the Eater post, who asks, presumably of Eater editor Ben Leventhal but maybe also of Eater publisher Lockhart Steele, "Isn't this your girlfriend?" We asked—denials were uniform and believable. But hasn't science shown that this is exactly the type of things dudes lie about?

11:15 AM on Tue Aug 14 2007
By Joshua Stein
6,404 views
41 comments

Comments

GorgeousGeorge at 11:24 AM on 08/14/07
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Tagging this article "Julia Allison" was key, because the subtext dripped from this post like port-wine-reduction sauce from Frank Bruni's mouth, or 'Alfredo' sauce from Julia's.
mathnet at 11:25 AM on 08/14/07
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Connectedness Index: 581

Danyelle, do you have a tede bayer on your bed?
Ha Ha Sound at 11:26 AM on 08/14/07
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Ah come on, she's attractive. Who cares if she can write? It's a well known rule that attractive people in New York deserve all the success they can get. I, for one, wish her well.
SlightlyLessDeliciousN... at 11:28 AM on 08/14/07
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It's getting to the point where clicking on the "Julia Allison" tag is going to crash your fucking database.
LolCait at 11:31 AM on 08/14/07
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I imagine Danyelle and Brielle's lives to be a constant loop of the opening to 'Laverne & Shirley,' only not funny and definitely more sad. So, scratch that. I imagine Danyelle and Brielle's lives to be a constant loop of the opening to 'Small Wonder.'
NYMinute at 11:31 AM on 08/14/07
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It's about time you came up with someone to compete in the JA over-exposed category. Nice job.
nevin at 11:31 AM on 08/14/07
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Restaurant column hot.
GorgeousGeorge at 11:33 AM on 08/14/07
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@LolCait: Funny you should say that, because I actually insist on carrying around a pocket-sized casette player and playing the opening theme to 'Mr. Belvedere' every time I walk into a room. Or, I should say, every time I dropkick my jacket as I walk in the door.
DorothyMantooth at 11:34 AM on 08/14/07
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So what'd she eat to get her to make that face? Do not want.
DorothyMantooth at 11:35 AM on 08/14/07
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@GorgeousGeorge: You're gonna live the good life yet.
BadUncle at 11:36 AM on 08/14/07
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Josh, you regularly turn a mellifluous phrase. But "ethically limber" is my new favorite.
bitchyenglishmajor at 11:37 AM on 08/14/07
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@LolCait: My brother had a crush on Vicki when we were younger. Now that I am older and I realize how many people fuck robotic items, it's not so creepy.
friend_of_a_friend at 11:38 AM on 08/14/07
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Didn't Choire butter Bruni's buns a while back? I know I'll probably get executed for talking about this but I want to know all the juicy details. I love that man...

Also, Restaurant Girl's commentary on cuisine is about as intellegent as Julia Allison's commentary on politics.
LolCait at 11:40 AM on 08/14/07
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@bitchyenglishmajor: I'm convinced they had to cancel that show because the kid, Jamie, was getting older and the producers didn't want to deal with the obvious fact that he would most likely reprogram Vicki to do untoward things to him in the still of night.
ascot-revival at 11:41 AM on 08/14/07
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One glance at that photo and I hear "Wicked Game" playing in my head. This could be the start of something.
Diglett at 11:41 AM on 08/14/07
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I'm getting really tired of the Blank-Girl/Grrrl moniker. I mean Restaurant Girl? Snore. I'd be much more likely to read "Bitch What Eats the Foods".
TedSez at 11:41 AM on 08/14/07
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She played Misty Giaculo in one episode of "The Sopranos." If Artie Bucco can write a cookbook, why can't she be a restaurant critic?
Darienlake at 11:44 AM on 08/14/07
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If you're like me (ie a little colder, a little sadder knowing that this person is being paid by a newspaper to write *anything*), you'll want to leave this video playing in a loop as your y2k+7 suicide note.
Smitros at 11:51 AM on 08/14/07
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I'm with Baduncle on this. Might "ethically limber" appear on a Gawker T-shirt?
bitchyenglishmajor at 11:53 AM on 08/14/07
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@LolCait: Someone told me that kid was played by Billy Corgan. I researched it and no, it wasn't him. But yeah, I could totally have seen him programming Vicki to satisfy him sexually. What straight kid wouldn't?
gonzosmom at 12:05 PM on 08/14/07
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@Darienlake:

I'm also old and bitter.
TheBigDoggy at 12:06 PM on 08/14/07
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She's OK-looking, I guess, by the lame attractiveness standards of newspaper hacks. Tough for me to get past her Belmont Stakes-worthy shnozola.
VoxPopuli at 12:12 PM on 08/14/07
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I don't trust a skinny food critic.
MissCast at 12:13 PM on 08/14/07
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@Darienlake: Is that video on the level or a SNL outtake? And what's with the 'theme song'? It sounds like the keyboard player fell off his stool at the end.
earlytimezone at 12:36 PM on 08/14/07
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If she fits the Allison mold, can we look forward to an average of 20 posts a week about her?
Chief Wahoo at 12:41 PM on 08/14/07
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Attractive? Seriously? Did I miss the memo, is ugly the new black?
Smirk at 12:50 PM on 08/14/07
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@ HA HA SOUND "Ah come on, she's attractive. Who cares if she can write? It's a well known rule that attractive people in New York deserve all the success they can get. I, for one, wish her well."

Is that how it works? Then next time I'm sending out query letters for my book I'll just throw in a couple of 8" x 10" glossies instead...
ils vont at 01:07 PM on 08/14/07
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Well, here's to her getting food poisoning, alot.
Nard at 01:10 PM on 08/14/07
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@bitchyenglishmajor: The kid on that show never struck me as particularly straight. I guess he could have programmed her to peg.
ConnPossible at 01:13 PM on 08/14/07
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People are just way too liberal with the word 'hot' these days.
yellojkt at 01:19 PM on 08/14/07
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You have to be able to write to be a food critic? Another career I have to strike off my dream job list.
Ha Ha Sound at 01:44 PM on 08/14/07
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@Smirk: Honestly, I wouldn't even bother with the book. Just send out the photos with a notes that says, "I can write". You should be fine.
ElDub at 01:50 PM on 08/14/07
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She's Julia Allison's ass of the food world. Bitch has a moon pie face.
ellagood at 02:02 PM on 08/14/07
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who cares. when was the last time one thought, "hmm, where should we eat tonight? i know, let's see what the Daily News recommends."

unless it's Scratch 'n Match Week - that paper is dead to me.
depardoo at 02:21 PM on 08/14/07
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So, if she and Lockhart marry, she'll be Danyelle Steele?
shehatesme at 02:48 PM on 08/14/07
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@depardoo: Fabulous!!
depardoo at 04:32 PM on 08/14/07
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@shehatesme:

Thanks. Crappy day. I needed a pat.
Smirk at 04:57 PM on 08/14/07
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@ Ha Ha Sound

Ha! That's perfect! If I send some of my "special" photos, do I get a hefty advance as well?
fig at 06:02 PM on 08/14/07
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"oral adventure around every corner"?

Did no one else think this was funny?
DonPardoCalrissian at 06:57 AM on 08/15/07
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Ambition is unattractive, the SJP of personality traits, and malethicism is no plus, but I read the article because I saw that hot picture.
jbk at 01:59 AM on 09/26/07
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I read the Daily News for "Get Fuzzy." I love that evil cat. But as a "Sopranos" fan, I'm still trying to figure out who she was on the show. A commenter mentioned Artie Bucco - did she play his wife or the hostess at the restaurant? I honestly can't tell from that pic who she was on the show. Can anyone elaborate what character/episode?