Garganelli with shiitake mushrooms, brussels sprouts and brown-butter sauce at Travertine. (Photo: Michael Alexander)
Travertine “may look like a nocturnal hot spot, but at prime dinner hour it’s (thankfully) a restaurant first,” writes Jay Cheshes in his three-star review. [TONY]
Chef King Phojanakong receives four stars for his Pan-Asian small plates in Bed-Stuy: “Umi Nom’s memorable food makes it a gem in an unlikely ’hood.” [TONY]
Veal with sweetbreads at SD26 (Photograph: Virginia Rollison)
San Domenico’s Tony May has passed the family torch to his daughter Marisa at the new SD26, writes Jay Cheshes, who awards the restaurant four stars. It’s “enormous, modern and frenetic—the opposite of its stuffy forerunner.” [TONY]
Three-star Russian chain Mari Vanna “trades in both pre- and post-Soviet kitsch,” but “you pay for the spectacle as much as for the food.” [TONY]
Fried oysters with corn-and-jalapeño relish at Ed's Chowder House (Photograph: Virginia Rollison)
Jeffrey Chodorow’s new project featured the aquatic skills of chef Ed Brown, who “has a master’s talent, but at Ed’s Chowder House, it mostly seems wasted,” writes Jay Cheshes in his three-star review. [TONY]
Three-star Onda raises the bar in South Street Seaport, but “the kitchen turns out a wide range of dishes that, while mostly good, suffer from inconsistency.” [TONY]
Pork belly with figs and pistachios at A Voce Columbus (Photograph: Marlene Rounds)
According to Jay Cheshes, A Voce Columbus “charms without ever trying too hard,” and garners four out of five stars. [TONY]
The Upper West Side’s farm-forward Recipe gets four stars for being a neighborhood restaurant that serves “reasonably priced, homespun dishes that are executed with sophistication.” [TONY] Read more »
Lobster Thermidor at Monkey Bar. Photograph: Donna Alberico/The New York Times/Redux
Jay Cheshes awards three stars to Graydon Carter’s exclusive Monkey Bar, writing that while “the food under [chef Larry] Forgione is much improved…the coddled clientele doesn’t come here for a dining adventure.” [TONY]
Bark Hot Dogs is a four-star neighborhood favorite, serving a wiener that’s “everything a hot dog should be.” [TONY]
Daurade served tableside at Oceana; Photograph: Jeffrey Gurwin
Jay Cheshes casts his line into the relocated Oceana and only comes up with three stars, writing, “The kitchen fares best when it sticks to the basics.” [TONY]
At the two-star Pan-Latin Agua Dulce, the generic food “is as inauthentic as it is spread geographically thin.” [TONY] Read more »
Beef bourguignonne at Joseph Leonard (Photo: Jolie Ruben)
Jay Cheshes visits the miniscule Joseph Leonard, the latest venture from Gabriel Stulman (Little Owl, Market Table), and gives it four out of five stars: “Its owner’s reputation…has made it more destination than pop-in canteen.” [TONY]
TONY also takes a look at Upper West Side vegan spot Peacefood Cafe, awarding it four stars and writing, “Disappointments—standard fare at most vegetarian spots—could not be found here.” [TONY]
Bushwick bar Tandem shuns “by-the-books trendiness” with its original decor and cocktails that are “keenly designed and smartly executed.” [TONY] Read more »
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] Read more »
Burger with bacon, Gruyère, a fried egg and onion rings at Gus and Gabriel (Photograph: Lizz Kuehl)
Jay Cheshes gives three out of five stars to Michael Psilakis’s Gus and Gabriel, which serves “fatty foods rarely encountered outside the Midwest. Much of it is delicious, and nearly all of it is obscene.” [TONY]
Laut in Union Square gets three stars, but the trick to eating the best dishes is to focus on what the restaurant “does best—Malaysian cuisine.” [TONY] Read more »
Cake with syrup-soaked peaches at Civetta (Photograph: Virginia Rollison)
Civetta in Little Italy is a “soulless sophomore venture” from Sfoglia’s Ron and Colleen Suhanosky, which Jay Cheshes grants a mere two out of five stars. [TONY]
Williamsburg’s Sui Ren Izakaya gets three out of five stars for its booze-friendly Japanese food, though “many of the more creative small plates fell short.” [TONY]
We give four stars to Brooklyn Bowl, where the “cooking and cocktails are leagues above the competition.” [TONY] Read more »
The Feed Eating and drinking
Own This City Life in New York
The Volume Music news of note
Upstaged The world of theater
