Roasted corn puree with rice, and spinach with fu and tofu paste at Kajitsu (Photo: Roxana Marroquin)

Jay Cheshes writes that while “dinner at Smith’s is still plenty pleasant,” he isn’t sure if “pleasant is quite good enough,” earning the homey restaurant three out of six stars. [TONY]

We meditate on “the centuries-old Zen Buddhist vegetarian cuisine known as shojin“ found at Kajitsu, where a meal of eight “jewellike” courses merits four out of six stars. [TONY]

TONY also visits “Fort Greene’s latest drinking addition,” Brooklyn Public House, and deems it to be like “a starlet with beauty but no talent” and gives the pub three stars. [TONY]

Frank Bruni suggests that you “take delight in the vintage décor” at Minetta Tavern, but “stay for the steak,” which he believes is so good that it earns the restaurant the title of “ the best steakhouse in the city,”  as well as three stars. [NYT]

Adam Platt gives the Kaiserschmarrn, Zwiebelrostbraten and other consonant-packed plates at Seäsonal Restaurant & Weinbar three out of five stars, writing that his wife gave the ultimate compliment, “This is yummy,” to everything she ate. [NYM]

Unsurprisingly, New York City tops Alan Richman’s top ten pizza cities even though the only pizzerias he “felt lived up to their reputation were Joe’s, a slice shop in Manhattan, and the great Totonno’s in Coney Island.” [GQ]

Though he “never really wondered what an Argentinean taco would taste like,” Robert Sietsema tried some at Williamburg’s El Almacén and found that they “reflect the Argentinean mania for meat, meat, and more meat.” [VV]

Sarah DiGregorio contrasts two new Lower East Side gastropubs. White Slab Palace (along with its missing servers) is “decidedly aloof,” while The Clerkenwell is “straightforward and pleasant.” [VV]

Mike Peed (yay!) writes that the James Beard–nominated Cyril Renaud donning his toque for Bar Breton is like “Michael Jordan suiting up for the Washington Wizards.” [The New Yorker]

Gael Greene visits the Table 8 “twiglet” in the Cooper Square Hotel, where the service is “very LaLa land” (in a good way), and while “nothing on the menu is revolutionary” the food is “just different enough” for her to consider returning. [Insatiable Critic]

Danyelle Freeman made the trek from her midtown domicile to “grungy” Williamsburg to dine at Vutera, where she has a “falling- down-the-rabbit-hole” experience, giving it three out of five stars. [NYDN]