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This Week in Reviews – August 5, 2005

Each Friday, AGINY publishes “This Week in Reviews,” with quick links to New York City restaurant reviews and mentions from the previous seven days in blogs, magazines, and newspapers.

Don’t forget the 2nd Annual Singapore Chili Crab Festival this Sunday, August 7th, DUMBO, Brooklyn

New York magazine is on the web and the stands with its Eat Cheap issue (August 8, 2005) … “Presenting the city’s best new places to eat like a prince, at pauper’s prices.” … our kind of list …
The Amateur Gourmet tried one of the places on New York’s Eat Cheap list … Waldy’s Pizza … and although he would not “come from a far outer borough to sample this pizza” he would absolutely “go out my door and down the block” … 800 Sixth Ave., 212-213-5042
Plate of the Day says Hilda’s beef “empanadas were hot items on the street” in Spanish Harlem on Madison Ave. between 110th and 111th Streets
Robert Sietsema reviews Bosna Express in Long Island City and recommends “grah ($6.95), a white-bean stew that tastes a lot like Campbell’s Bean With Bacon, except there’s no bacon, of course.” 3129 12th Street, Long Island City, Queens, 718-932-5577. Subway: N train, either Broadway or 30th Avenue
eat drink one woman has “yet to be disappointed by a meal at al di la” … where her favorite dish is “the genie pillow casunziei with fuchsia beet ricotta filling, glossy clarified butter and the subtle crunch of poppy seeds” … we love poppy seeds … 248 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, 718-783-4565
Want a grilled pizza? How about a pizza covered with Nutella for dessert? Peter Meehan likes Coals in the Bronx, “Pizza on a Grill in the Bronx” (NYT rr), and says the Pure Bliss and the Al Leiter pies are both “pure winners.” but warns you to avoid the Rasta. He declares that “the Second Avenue panini ($6.25) is probably one of the best creative sandwiches in the city.” Probably? 1888 Eastchester Road, Bronx, 718-823-7002
New York Daily News concludes that the best pizza in New York is in the Bronx: Di Fara Pizza (1424 Avenue J at E. 15th St., 718-258-1367) and Franny’s (295 Flatbush Ave., between St. Mark’s Ave. and Bergen St., 718-230-0221) in “Upper crust: Our team of tasters tracks down the best pizzas ’round” … 3 stars each … although we’re not sure what to make of the 3 1/2 stars given to … Totonno (1524 Neptune Ave., Coney Island, 718-372-8606) … Sal and Carmine’s (2671 Broadway, 212-663-7651) … Luzzo (211 First Ave., 212-473-7447) … or John’s Pizzeria (278 Bleecker St., 212-243-1680) …
The only reason this one is here is because it has “chug” in it: “Tiny Bubbles: What does a 40 really taste like?“, by Nina Lalli in The Village Voice, compares 3 malt liquors: Olde English, Colt 45, and Saint Ides … and concludes, “What really blew my mind was the fact that all the 40s smelled exactly like canned pineapple juice.” … hmmmm, canned pineapple juice has never smelled like beer to us …
According to Moira Hodgson, New York Observer, the almond soup at Uovo is a “masterpiece” … “An Icon of Simple Perfection Hatches in the East Village” … The Humboldt Fog with sherry syrup also sounds interesting; Moira’s waitress told her, “It’s like a piece of cheesecake, but it’s a piece of cheese.” 175 Avenue B, 212-475-8686
Andrea Strong reviews La Esquina: “Their cold and creamy green tomato and avocado soup was picture perfect, served in a shallow terra cotta cazuela, topped with shaved radishes and bits of avocado and pineapple. It was quite possibly my most intense cold soup experience. I needed a moment after each spoonful.” 106 Kenmare Street, 646-613-1333
Joshua Bernestin in “Beach-Blanket Beer-Sipping,” asks: “La Esquina. Location? Nestled in Nolita’s Corner Deli, behind a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. Reservation? Required. Phone number? Granted by a hostess who’ll maybe (maybe) provide a table after you schlep upstairs and call. In the name of Milk and Honey, why is getting drunk a cool-approved privilege?” … good question … If you want to visit another place that is hard to find, go to Harry’s LIC at Water Taxi Beach (Hunter’s Point in Brooklyn) … “Though the [WaterTaxiBeach.com] website touts, ‘Finding the beach is easy!’ I disagree. The 34th Street water taxi is the most direct route, but why drop eight dollars round-trip to drink? And it’s a 15-minute hike from the 7 or G train. Instead, bike or drive and look for the bulbous Tennisport complex, beside a parking lot marked by a New York Water Taxi sign. Head to the lot’s rear and—voila!—beach.” … here’s the Google map, but this annotated one is better
(NoLita is an acronym for “North of Little Italy” … just trying to be helpful …)
Goathamist reviewed La Esquina last week … this week they look at the Chinatown ice cream wars in “Enter The Ice Cream Dragon”
Shazia Kahn took a tour of Il Laboratorio del Gelato … rated number 1 in a Zagat ice cream survey … John Snyder, the owner, got his start working in his grandfather’s Carvel store …. they offer overnight delivery anywhere in the United States … 95 Orchard St. (btwn Broome & Delancey St.s) 212-343-9922
Charlie Suisman of Manhattan User’s Guide posted his list of “favorite sweet stuff” in … “Sweet Stuff” … he also likes Il Laboratorio del Gelato …
Bob Lape gives the Harlem Grill 2 out of 4 stars … liked the “clay-pot snapper, slow-cooked with other seafood, and taking on a smoky, spicy edge from chunks of andouille sausage in the pot” … and says the bourbon butter pecan profiterole is “the star of the sweet show” … “Table Talk: Harlem Grill taps local history” … 2247 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (7th Ave.), 212-491-0493
Leo Carey says that “A has a besotted SoHa following, and is so endearingly tiny that it’s impossible not to root for it.” … “A” is for the A train … although it also helps top any alpha list … 947 Columbus Ave., 212-531-1643
Frank Bruni can’t understand why Cendrillon, 45 Mercer Street (212-343-9012), isn’t busier: “Cooking Without Concessions” (NYT – rr) … after reading his review we’re also wondering …
… as is Jules over at The Bruni Digest, who interprets Frank Bruni’s Cendrillon review: “Cendrillon: I Almost Entrechat Myself” … hilarious
NYC Stories says of Shima (188 Second Avenue), “This was probably some of the freshest sushi I have had in NYC.” … there’s another “probably” … 212-260-6303
dailyheights.com reports on the new prix fixe restaurant, Sorrel, at Carlton and St. Mark’s in Brooklyn. map
Tina Barry, in “Lava the New Look,” says the calamari arrabbiata and linguini in white clam sauce at Vesuvio in Brooklyn are delicious. 7305 Third Ave., 719-745-0222