Each Friday, A Guy In New York publishes “This Week in NYC Reviews (TWIR),” with quick links to New York City restaurant reviews and mentions from the previous seven days in blogs, magazines, and newspapers.
Also see our roundup of Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants with links to reviews …
For a roundup of DC restaurant reviews from DC food bloggers and media, see This Week in DC Reviews at Hobnob Blog …
NYC Restaurant inspection results online

• the 2006 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards are out … nominees for best chef in NYC include: Dan Barber, Blue Hill; David Burke, davidburke & donnatella; Floyd Cardoz, Tabla; Gabriel Kreuther, The Modern; and David Waltuck, Chanterelle (page 11 of 11 -page pdf) … in the mid-Atlantic: Mark Fustenberg, Breadline; Peter Pastan, Obelisk; and Fabio Trabocchi, Maestro at the Ritz-Carlton Tyson’s Corner (page 10 of 11 -page pdf) .. Del Posto and The Modern are among the nominees for Best New Restaurant … Outstanding Chef nominees include: Tom Colicchio, Craft; Alfred Portale, Gotham Bar & Grill; and Michel Richard, Citronelle (page 10 of 11 -page pdf)
• Big Apple Dining Guide had lunch and a tour at Blue Hill at Stone Barns … worth seeing the entire piece for many pics and a review of lunch … (previous review: eat drink one woman (TWIR, January 13, 2006)) … web site, 630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, NY (just past Tarrytown), 914-366-9600 [New York | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• WhiteTrashBBQ reminds us about Grillin’ on the Bay – NYC’s first sanctioned BBQ contest this Saturday, Corner of Avenue Z and East 18th Street, Brooklyn …
• pushcart NYC says the “the beef steak and spicy pork tacos were unbelievable” at the taco truck at 96th Street and Broadway, SW corner, 917-837-6052 …
• Steve Cuozzo goes to Piano Due … and asks, “[W]hy won’t spoon-fed food writers with great influence over public taste wake up to it?” … to which he answers: “Thank a food media that’s hung up on televised chefs, ‘master mixologists’ and gimmicks, but is too often palate-dead.” … “Its richly spiced pasta and sauces have thrilled me since last October. Its earthbound menu moves my earth.” … “Since it opened to a brief, enthusiastic Gael Greene write-up in New York magazine, Piano Due has suffered a virtual media blackout. It has neither been reviewed in any large-circulation publication nor enjoyed the feature coverage routinely lavished on big-league openings. Cetrulo doesn’t have the gift of gab of a Batali, Bobby Flay or David Burke. But he does run Scalini Fedeli in TriBeCa, recipient of a Michelin star and also one of the highest-ranked Italians in the Zagat Survey. Even if you don’t place a fig of credence in either Michelin or Zagat, shouldn’t the fact that both rate Scalini Fedeli so highly at least stir the curiosity of media types who rush to every Meatpacking District barn?” … “Piano Due has no gimmicks, only some of the most sensuous Italian cooking in town.” … (previous reviews: Moira Hodgson (TWIR, November 18, 2005), Gael Greene (TWIR, October 14, 2005), David Rosen (TWIR, September 9, 2005)) … web site, 151 West 51st Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, 212-399-9400 [MenuPages | Citysearch] … if the food media wants to see an interesting review, check out Big Apple Dining Guide’s review of Blue Hill at Stone Barns above … read Augieland, eat drink one woman, Veal Cheeks, Mona’s Apple, NYC nosh, Twenty Bucks a Day, and Waiter Rant … and stop reviewing the same 50 restaurants …
• David Rosen gave 3 stars to Tia Pol … the “fluffy tortilla espanola, crispy potato bravas, delicate croquettes and garlicky chorizo [are] magically and consistently great” … web site, 205 Tenth Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, 212-675-8805 [NYT | NY Mag | Yelp | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• eat drink one woman warns that at Da Andrea “Don’t fill up on the generous focaccia basket with the dish of olive oil and pitted kalamatas. Instead, get those tigelles that got written up in all the initial reviews. They’re still fab — hot silver dollar flatbreads you split and fill with melty prosciutto and grated parm” … web site, 557 Hudson Street, 212-367-1979 [NYT | NY Mag | Yelp | openlist | Citysearch]
• Mona’s Apple had dinner at Blue Ribbon Bakery … asparagus vinaigrette “was perfectly cooked with a slight crispness to it with the vinaigrette drizzled on top. The vinaigrette made this dish, and now whenever I see or hear asparagus I’m going to want BR’s vinaigrette to go along with it.” … “the mushroom ravioli [were] rich in mushroom and cream, like pillows of goodness.” … “the fried chicken with mash potatoes and collard greens [was] was soft and tender on the inside with a cackling crispness on the outside-just how fried chicken’s supposed to be.” … “The generous filet of salmon was grilled to perfection and topped with crispy potato flake” … web site, 33 Downing Street, at Downing Street, 212-337-0404 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | Village Voice | Yelp | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Augieland gave 211 lewinskibillion stars to A Voce … “I am sorry to say I did not like it at all. I don’t say this meaning that you won’t like it, you may, but as far as my experience last night goes, they managed to do enough things exactly the opposite of how I believe they should be done that I would suggest not going.” … it looks like Augieland’s 211 lewinskibillion stars is the equivalent of 1 star from Frank Bruni … (see Bruni below for links) … awarded 651 swellzillian stars for lunch at Cookshop … “Wife and I shared the soup and split the Grass fed mini burgers, Vermont cheddar, onion rings, fries, chipotle ketchup & a Guss’ pickle as our other appetizer. Grass-fed beef may never be as soft as wagyu or as fatty as prime, but boy is it flavorful. The accoutrements for this little slider would have walked all over the beef typically being used these days. Here, though, there is a strong matching of sharp cheddar, ketchup with the warm reminders of capsicum, and a rather sweet roll, with the very flavorful almost mineral tang of good beef.” … (previous reviews: Robert Sietsema (TWIR, March 10, 2005), Forbes (TWIR, February 10, 2006), Veal Cheeks (TWIR, February 3, 2006), Andrea Thompson (TWIR, December 16, 2005), Frank Bruni (TWIR, December 2, 2005), Hal Rubenstein (TWIR, November 18, 2005), Andrea Strong (TWIR, November 11, 2005), NYC Nosh (TWIR, October 14, 2005)) … 156 10th Avenue, at 20th Street, 212-924-4440 [MenuPages | Yelp | Citysearch] … attended a “vertical wines of Giacomo Conterno dinner with the wine maker Roberto Conterno at Babbo” … “Truly great Babbo is truly inspired Italian food that sticks with the ethos that in Italy you would never use sub-par ingredients to fit a recipe but would adapt your recipe to fit your greatest ingredients. So here in America, what is best, not what is traditional, is served.” … (previous reviews: Veal Cheeks (TWIR, February 24, 2006), Big Apple Dining Guide (TWIR, October 28, 2005)) … web site, 110 Waverly Place, 212-777-0303 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Metro | Village Voice | openlist | Yelp | Gayot | Citysearch]
• NYC nosh was disappointed with Boca Chica … “Coco Shrimp were completely enjoyable: dredged in a savory coconut batter and deep fried” … the “Pastel de Choclo, a casserole-like dish made with chicken, tomato, golden raisins, olives, and a cornmeal topping smelled absolutely fantastic [but too] little spice and a burnt tomato taste together destroyed any chance of this dish’s success.” … “Grilled Chicken Breast with Black Beans and Avocado, should have been an easy home run, or at least a base hit. … Yet the chicken breast’s interior was rubbery and desiccated, and worse, the cardinal sin of chicken cookery was performed to cover the dryness of the meat–the breast was served swimming in a salty lagoon of broth and oil.” … 13 1st Avenue, 212-473-0108 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | Yelp | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Salli Vates “made a happy discovery” at Kanoyama … “the early-bird special” … web site, 175 2nd Avenue, 212-777-5266 [NY Mag | Citysearch]
• Forbes gives Green GOs to Piola: “pizza baked in a wood-burning oven. Crusts are thin and crispy, and the choice of toppings is dizzying” … 48 East 12th Street, 212-777-7781 [Citysearch] … and Pascalou: “Favorites: stuffed roast chicken and salmon Wellington” … 1308 Madison Avenue, between 92nd and 93rd Streets, 212-534-7522 [Citysearch] … and a Yellow CONSIDER to Manhattan Grille: “Steaks and chops are still first-rate” … 1161 First Avenue, between 63rd and 64th Streets, 212-888-6556 … [Citysearch]
• Moira Hodgson gave 2 stars to Urena … “began with a superb confit of rabbit leg shredded in strips, topped with sliced shiitake mushrooms and served with cauliflower purée. An equally wonderful Spanish onion–tamarind purée graced two seared, rare scallops on a smoky chorizo sauce” … “had no quarrel with the halibut I’d ordered” … “Mahi-mahi with portobello mushrooms … looked as though it had washed up on the edge of New York harbor: It was a bit of a mush. But tender chunks of steamed lobster on a bed of pickled rhubarb purée with glazed salsify were great” … (previous reviews: Veal Cheeks and Adam Platt (TWIR, March 3, 2006), Augieland (TWIR, February 10, 2006)) … 37 East 28th Street, between Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue South, 212-213-2328 [eGullet | NY Metro | Citysearch]
• The Girl Who Ate Everything had fruit waffles for brunch at Smorgas Chef … “it was good! Apple, pear, strawberry, and blueberry” … (previous review: Big Apple Dining Guide (TWIR, January 27, 2006)) … web site, 53 Stone Street, 212 422 3500 [MenuPages | Village Voice | Yelp | openlist | Citysearch] … and “went to Bouchon Bakery on opening day” … “The brioche was pretty much perfect; light, airy, eggy, tasty.” … Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle, at 59th Street, fourth floor, 212-823-9366 [NY Mag]
• Peter Gianotti says Luigi Q is “an Italian restaurant defined as much by the generous, personable owner as it is by the bright, flavorful food” … recommends the seafood … 400 South Oyster Bay Road, Hicksville, 516-932-7450 [NYT]
• Twenty bucks a day is addicted to the sandwiches at Alidoro … “A better context in which to sample the prosciutto is in the Mischa ($9.50), which features that meat with provolone, hot peppers with a good balance of spice to flavor, and the ubiquitous arugula, which is always exceedingly fresh” … and likes “the semolina [bread], which is crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and has a strong flavor to match its outer dusting of sesame seeds” … 105 Sullivan Street, between Spring and Prince Streets, 212-334-5179 [NY Mag | Village Voice | Yelp] … and doesn’t sound like he’ll go back to Cono and Sons O’Pescatore … “if one wants old-school Italian-American cuisine, it would be better to save money for a splurge at Roberto’s in the Bronx rather than half-ass it at Cono’s or something like it” … 301 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-388-0168 [Village Voice | openlist] … and is “jealous of people who work near Union Square” because of Ennju … “a serious contender for best ‘fast’ Japanese food in the city” … 20 East 17th Street, between 5th Avenue and Broadway, 646-336-7004 [Village Voice | openlist]
• Frank Bruni goes to A Voce: loved the “quartet of meatballs made from duck leg meat, foie gras and pork” … (previous reviews: Andrew & Karen’s web log and Big Apple Dining Guide (TWIR, March 17, 2006)) … web site, 41 Madison Avenue, at 26th Street, 212-545-8555 [Citysearch] … and Buddakan: “One of our favorites among the dishes we did try was arguably one of the least fanciful: crispy Cantonese spring rolls with shrimp, chicken and bamboo shoots.” … (previous reviews: Augieland (TWIR, March 10, 2006)) … 75 9th Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets, 212-989-6699 [MenuPages | Citysearch] … Industria Argentina: “succulent short ribs and rack of lamb were much better than an “Andean corn and seafood chowder,” which didn’t have much seafood in it, or a smoked pumpkin risotto, which didn’t have much flavor” … (previous review: Pascale Le Draoulec (TWIR, February 24, 2006)) … 329 Greenwich Street, between Duane and Jay Streets, 212-965-8560 [MenuPages | Citysearch] … Kellari: “young goat, or kid, braised in yogurt [was] one of its best dishes” … 19 West 44th Street, near Fifth Avenue, 212-221-0144 [OpenTable] … and gave 1 star to Morimoto …”The appeal of the dishes at Morimoto, like their ethnic associations, was all over the place, due in part to their frantic nature and in part to the kitchen’s uneven performance.” … “a roasted lobster was overcooked, as was just about all of the shellfish, including shrimp and crab” … “high concept repeatedly supplanted sound judgment, resulting in dishes more amusing to behold than to ingest” … “Although plenty expensive, Morimoto is an often undisciplined restaurant, prone to silliness and crammed with servers whose extraordinary friendliness didn’t mask their mistakes.” … (previous reviews: David Rosen and Mona’s Apple (TWIR, March 3, 2006), Steve Cuozzo and Augieland (TWIR, February 17, 2006), Augieland (TWIR, February 10, 2006), Augieland (TWIR, February 3, 2006)) … web site, 88 10th Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets, 212-989-8883 [MenuPages | NY Mag | Citysearch]
• Adam Platt also went to Morimoto … “There is the varied sushi menu (the fish is flown in four times weekly from the Tsukiji market in Tokyo), which even my most effete sushi-snob friends conceded was irreproachable. There is the main menu, which is filled with clunky but often enjoyable riffs on simple Asian dishes (Korean bibimbap made with yellowtail tuna, pork gyoza dunked in crème fraîche). And there is the chef’s special omakase menu, which features Japanese fusion cooking of the highest kind, designed to be enjoyed while sitting in zaisu chairs with your shoes off, at the elite ‘omakase bar.’” … the “signature tempura is possibly one of the most grisly things I’ve ever tasted (the batter is thick and greasy, and there’s a pot of oily Gorgonzola sauce on the side). But there’s also plenty of intriguing food on the menu” … including “lumps of soft buffalo mozzarella with slices of the freshest salmon or octopus … lamb carpaccio with a rich ginger-scallion sauce [and] a poached-lobster salad (with a soy beurre blanc) that’s as good as anything at the hoity-toity Continental restaurants uptown” … “‘Japanese Bouillabaisse’ is worth ordering solely for the delicious broth made with sake and red miso. Best of all, however, is the ‘Duck, Duck, Duck,’ an inspired postmodern dissertation on the wonders of Peking duck, composed of a single duck leg cooked in the classic Peking style, a duck egg, and a roast-duck sandwich made not with Chinese pancakes but with a croissant infused with foie gras.” … the omakase menu “costs $120 and is worth every penny” …
• Nick Paumgarten says “there is something preposterous about Del Posto” … “The extreme pomp of the place–the footstools for ladies’ purses, the high-tea piano music, the miles of marble, the fleets of flatware–can feel like a put-on, as though this were the setting for a reality show in which celebrity chefs compete to see who can charge out-of-towners the most for offal” … (previous reviews: Frank Bruni (TWIR, March 3, 2006), Steve Cuozzo (TWIR, February 17, 2006), David Rosen (TWIR, February 3, 2006)), Andrea Strong (TWIR, January 20, 2006)) … 85 Tenth Avenue, between 15th Street and 16th Streets, 212-497-8090 [MenuPages | NY Mag | Village Voice | Citysearch]
• Pascale Le Draoulec also went to Del Posto … “While there were moments and dishes at Del Posto that were indeed transcendent, too many were merely ‘good,’ given the price and pageantry of the place, starting with a whooaaa-Nelly $29 valet parking service.” … Peter says if you want good Italian food, cook at home … where you’re already parked …
• Christine Muhlke has some “highlights of my cross-country feeding frenzy,” reporting on the highs and lows of restaurants on a drive from San Francisco to NYC … and says Avec in Chicago is “Noisy, but worth a plane ticket just for the wild boar with pappardelle” … web site, 615 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL, 312-377-2002 … [MetroMix | NYT | Chicago Tribune | Yelp | Chicago Reader | openlist | CenterStage | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Jean Tang has an advertising roundup of “Indian bistros” … “There’s a new form of Indian restaurant in town, and it’s the bistro. Sure, the curry houses of yore are still around, but the old-style traditional tackiness is now replaced with minimalist design, campy drinks, groovy soundtracks and tongue-in-cheek menus.” … Mint: “biryani, not steak frites, is one of the house specialties” … 150 East 50th Street, 212-644-8888 [Citysearch] … Leela Lounge: “dishes are typically authentic, but tweaked to Western tastes” … 1 West Third Street, 212-529-2059 [Citysearch] … Moksha: “Moksha’s food, created by ex-Tamarind chef Peter Beck, is remarkable” … 18 Murray Street, 212-608-0707 [Citysearch] … Yuva: “the tandoor – which makes up a startling quarter of the menu – sends out remarkably charred-tender food” … 230 East 58th Street, 212-339-0090 [Citysearch] … Bombay Talkie: a “two-level paean to street food and Indian pop culture” … 189 Ninth Avenue, 212-242-1900 [Citysearch] …
• VittlesVamp reminds us that Spring Has Sprung (Shake Shack is open) … and says “pork rinds dipped in white chocolate … is long overdue for a quickie divorce” at Compass … (previous reviews: The Hungry Rose (TWIR, January 20, 2006), Frank Bruni (TWIR, November 25, 2005)) … web site, 208 West 70th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and West End Avenue, 212-875-8600 [MenuPages | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• A Hamburger Today comments on Shake Shack opening: “And the line no doubt goes down the block. It’s good, people, but come on.” … we agree … try Tony Dragonas’ grilled hamburger …
• Amateur Gourmet liked the coconut samosas at Milon … “The food was decent [but] the environment and decor (have I mentioned the decor?) made up for it.” … 93 1st Avenue, 212-228-4896 [MenuPix | NY Mag (scroll down to 23) | Yelp | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Rachel Wharton interviewed Tim Zagat … “[W]hen it comes to eating out, says Tim Zagat, the man behind the famous restaurant guides, bad service is what ticks us off. When filling out surveys for the 2006 city guide, he says, a whopping 49% of New Yorkers named bad service – mostly attitude, inattentiveness, reservation issues and waiting – their No. 1 grumble. ‘It’s by far the largest,’ says Zagat of this category of complaints, noting that it would have been even higher if we weren’t getting increasingly fed up with noise and crowds (32%) and the cost of eating in the most expensive dining destination in the country (14%).” …

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