Allen & Delancey's strip loin with panzanella (Photo: Lizz Kuehl)

Jay Cheshes gives Allen & Delancey four out of five stars, anointing its newest chef, Ryan Skeen, a “rapidly maturing talent—his food here is far and away his most impressive to date—[it] might soon put him in the ranks of the best cooks in New York.” [TONY]

“Chef Scott Bridi…has a masterful command of [meat],” but Lot 2 would be even better if it paid “more consistent attention” to its veggies. [TONY]

The Standard Grill “is not the place I would send friends who want to study the latest contortions of the yoga masters of haute cuisine. But it is exactly where I would direct anybody who needs to recharge by plugging straight into the abundant, renewable energy source that is downtown Manhattan,” writes Pete Wells in his one-star review. [NYT]

“Everything about SHO Shaun Hergatt feels stuffy and slightly passé.… But as the food begins issuing from the kitchen, it quickly becomes apparent that this is not such a bad thing,” concludes Adam Platt, granting the restaurant two stars. [NYMag]

“Tables for Two” visits Joaquin Baca’s The Brooklyn Star, and finds bacon nearly everywhere: “One might question the bacon lobby’s influence on Baca.” [New Yorker]

Ryan Sutton finds little to love at the new Aureole, awarding it one star and writing, “The fare is billed as progressive American. Here’s what that means: Christopher Lee takes excellent ingredients and manipulates the flavor out of them.” [Bloomberg]

The recommended dish at Bay Ridge’s Island of Taiwan Restaurant is “crispy smelly bean curd,” which Robert Sietsema describes as smelling “of vomit, [but] when it passes your lips, the curd turns mild and inoffensive. I swear.” [VV]

Eco-friendly Bark Hot Dogs sells wieners that are “as good as advertised, both the all-beef and the beef-and-pork versions, with a terrific snap to the casing,” writes Alan Richman. [GQ]