TONY’s Jay Cheshes pins three stars on the long-awaited 10 Downing, writing, “Some restaurants are born under a black cloud and can never seem to shake it. Such is the curse of the long-overdue, overhyped new West Village bistro 10 Downing.” [TONY]

Time Out also visits Walter Foods. Its warmth “carries over to the food and drink, which, like the space, seems to give you exactly what you are in the mood for.” [TONY]

In bars, we write that Draft Barn’s daunting menu of 250 beers is worth the trip, despite having to “interrogate the staff before we got more than one-word responses.” [TONY]

Over at The New York Times, Frank Bruni is underwhelmed by the revamped Oak Room, to which he awards a single star, mostly for decor. He declares the wood-paneled heaven “more looker than performer.” [NY Times]

Indian restaurant Dhaba also gets a visit from the Times, which calls out its lunch buffet: “At $9.95 it’s one of the city’s great culinary bargains.” [NY Times]

Adam Platt gives Asian-fusion newcomer Shang two stars, and advises diners to stick to the dim sum–sized plates. “It’s refreshing to see the arrival of an experienced and talented chef who’s not afraid to reach for the stars,” he writes. [NY mag]

Alan Richman weighs in on two new arrivals to the pizza scene: Chelsea’s Co. and Williamsburg’s Motorino. For him, Co. is the big winner, with a thinner crust and overall less “wet” pie. [GQ]

Robert Sietsema stays on the island this week, heading uptown to Salumeria Rosi: “The place is more than a simple salumeria—Casella’s quirky cooking has been grafted onto the salami store in a way that might delight Dadaists.” [VV]

Also at the Voice, Sarah DiGregorio hopes the strictly vegetarian East Village restaurant Dirt Candy will to be the future of its kind, writing “[it] is the only vegetarian restaurant I know that might demand a Lipitor prescription.” [VV]

Ryan Sutton is less kind to Shang, giving it a single star. He judges the food—which he labels “hotel Chinese”—to be fine at best, adding, “Some New Yorkers have long hoped for a great, high-end Chinese restaurant. Shang is not that restaurant.” [Bloomberg]

Rounding out the Shang reviews is the Daily News’ Restaurant Girl, who hits it with two stars. She enjoys the signature 19-ingredient slaw, but writes that “too many dishes on this menu taste like cleverness.” [Daily News; RG]

The New Yorker gets around to reviewing the tiny Graffiti: “The menu’s standout is the Graffiti burger—two tiny, kebab-spiced patties that ought to rank among the city’s best, in spite of their size.” [New Yorker]

Steve Cuozzo doesn’t totally agree with Bruni this week, stating that “the Oak Room [is] acting like a real restaurant for the first time in its history.” [NY Post]

Gael Greene is wooed by the tapas over at La Fonda del Sol and believes it to be the next big place to lunch. “The headline is this: Josh De Chellis seems to have found his cooking mojo again.” [IC]

—Justine Sterling