• Frank Bruni was not impressed at The Chemist Club Grill … including: “pork shank was excessively fatty and oddly gluey. The rib-eye had an unsavory aftertaste.” … 52 East 41st Street, between Park and Madison Avenues, 212-297-9177 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Joan Reminick went to Asian Moon … “Americans who want to sample a smattering of Thai, Malaysian, Japanese and Indonesian fare can enjoy the vibrant (if sometimes suburbanized) interpretations of chef Brian Zheng, who does some of his best work with the fare of his native China.” … 825 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, 516-248-6161
• snack has good advice when cooking for Thanksgiving …
• Plate of the Day likes the fried chicken at New Caporal Fried Chicken … “one of the best pieces of fried chicken I’ve had in NY.” … 3772 Broadway, between 156th and 157th Streets, 212-862-8986 (Robert Sietsema says “people drive miles to get” the fried chicken) …
• Moira Hodgson gave 2 stars to Jovia … “The grilled octopus is superb” … “loved the veal ravioli, made with meat from the shank, served in a tomato ragu and topped with cow’s milk ricotta.” … the quail and duck is a “marvelous dish” … (previous reviews: Steve Cuozzo (TWIR, November 18, 2005)) … 135 East 62nd Street, at Lexington Avenue, 212-752-6000 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Owen Phillips likes the slices at Vinny Vincenz’s Pizzamobile … “It might be the high turnover, or Lynch’s touch and timing—he says he knows by smell when the pie is done—but it’s among the best in midtown” … West 40th Street at Broadway (restaurant at 231 1st Avenue, between 13th and 14th Streets, 212-674-0707)
• Robert Sietsema reviews cookbooks … “Santa’s Top 10 Cookbooks: Recipe Collections That Don’t Suck—And a Few That Do” …
• Frank Bruni visited two Upper East Side restaurants … Compass (2 stars) … where he liked the “crispy skate appetizer,” and the “lobster, poached in olive oil before being pampered with butter and clementine juice, made a dreamy case for never treating lobster any other way” … 208 West 70th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and West End Avenue, 212-875-8600 [MenuPages | Gayot | Citysearch] … and Cafe Luxembourg (1 star) … where the skate was “somewhat gummy. It typified too much of the restaurant’s food, at once serviceable and disappointing. And yet Cafe Luxembourg, unlike Compass, was characteristically packed.” … 200 West 70th Street, 212-873-7411 [MenuPages | Gayot | Citysearch]
• The Bruni Digest titles her review “Compass and Cafe Luxembourg: Revenge of the Loser” … “The two bachelors we’re deciding between, Café Luxembourg and Compass, are archetypal, really— Willoughby versus the Colonel, Zach versus Screech— it’s the flashy, popular dude versus the meritorious dork. In many ways, it is the ultimate scenario of high school injustice” …
• Adam Platt gives a mixed review to Barça 18 … “The tapas are not as various or refined as anything you’d find in a serious New York tapas parlor, but I had no problem with the smoothly crunchy cod fritters (with a saffron aïoli dipping sauce), the white anchovies marinated in white wine, or even the charcuterie platter set with ribbons of Serrano ham, chorizo, and wedges of oily toast. The crispy calamari are fine also, as was a bowl of fresh mussels set in a tasty sherry broth.” … (previous reviews: David Rosen (TWIR November 18, 2005), Frank Bruni (TWIR, November 4, 2005)) … 225 Park Avenue South, between 18th and 19th Streets, 212-533-2500 [MenuPages | Gayot | Citysearch]
• eater says “the duck confit strudel is delish” at The Place on West 10th … 142 West 10th Street, between Greenwich Avenue and Waverly Place, 212-462-2880
• A Guy In New York likes the Peking Duck and the crispy pan-fried whole flounder at Nice Restaurant …
• Twenty Bucks A Day says El Sombrero is a “good place to meet friends for an undiscerning meal of Mexi-sludge and margaritas (carryout available – shh!), and it would seem that LES diners agree – the dining room gets packed on weekend evenings. I’m not exactly eager to go back” … reminds us of a place in Alexandria, VA (Taqueria Poblano, which serves “authentic Mexican cuisine” and you know that can’t be true as soon as they say it) that many people rave about but we find mediocre at best … 108 Stanton Street, at Ludlow Street, 212-254-4188 [MenuPages | Citysearch] … the pizza from Slice is “far from perfect” … maybe because it “claims to concentrate on the organic and restricted-diet-enabling side of the ingredient spectrum – the cheeses available, for example, start out at a relatively straightforward organic mozzarella, but move along to the lactose-intolerant-friendly goat cheese, soy mozzarella, and rice mozzarella.” … 1413 2nd Avenue, between 73rd and 74th Streets, 212-249-4353 [MenuPages | Citysearch] … “The freshly baked pita bread is a revelation” at Bedouin Tent … also liked the “merguez (spicy lamb sausage) sandwich … Chicken Ouzi [which was] unbelievably delicious and easily enough to feed two” … 405 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-852-5555 [Citysearch]
• Big Apple Dining Guide had the “Wild Bill Cody from their ‘Big Plates’ menu. This was pappardelle with chocolate-wild boar sauce/ragu. And it was excellent.” at Maremma … (previous reviews: Mark Ellwood (TWIR, November 11, 2005), Adam Platt and Owen Phillips (TWIR, October 7, 2005), Robert Sietsema (TWIR, September 2, 2005)) … 278 West 10th Street, at Bleecker Street, 212-645-0200 [MenuPages | NYT | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Peter Meehan writes that Northeast Kingdom is “so far east on the L line that not even the most duplicitous real estate agent could sell it as East Williamsburg, is another one, a small place with a short menu of homey cooking in a one-story building surrounded by blocks of factories and warehouses.” … “Menu staples include a hearty, simple dish of lamb stewed in red wine ($12), a homey chicken potpie ($12) and a B.L.T. dressed up with balsamic-spiked mayonnaise ($9 with a side salad). All are worthy.” … 18 Wyckoff Avenue, at Troutman Street, Brooklyn, 718-386-3864 [Citysearch]
• Mona’s Apple gave 2 apples to Trattoria dell’ Arte … suggests you “stick with the pizza and pasta dishes” … 900 7th Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets, 212-245-9800 [MenuPages | NYT | Citysearch]
• eat drink one woman had lunch with slice at No. 28 Carmine … “Nice crisp-to-chew ratio, charred bottoms, perhaps a hair thicker than I prefer, but not in an unpleasant way.” … 28 Carmine Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, 212-463-9653 [MenuPages | slice | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Andrea Strong wrote that “Overall, despite the few glitches on the menu, I liked the food” at Barça 18 … “loved the crispy calamari” and “the Bacalao Coca—a salt cod pizza with Manchego and grilled peppers, red onions, and olives” … (David Rosen reviewed last week (TWIR, November 18, 2005) and Frank Bruni reviewed in early November (TWIR, November 4, 2005)) … 225 Park Avenue South, between 18th and 19th Streets, 212-533-2500 [MenuPages | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Frank Bruni is ambivalent about Aquaterra … “During my recent lunch there, what I liked best were the restaurant’s bruschette, about a dozen kinds of which are available, for $3 a piece.” … 209 East 56th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, 212-644-4447 [MenuPages | Citysearch]

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