Today, a special, spring-focused Week in Reviews, courtesy of sunshine, puppies, and fuzzy rainbows. Something about this week was just so nice, even the critics were feeling the (tempered) love.
1) Bruni, making up for last week's Morimoto-beating, two-stars Ureña, and finds it sort of like that boyfriend that you really want to like but there's just something about his "hooked nose" that you can't get over even though he's just got, like, the best personality. Because, while Bruni loves the dazzling rabbit, the "revelatory" flounder, the "enchanted" short ribs, the "hugely appealing" salt cod mousse, the "flamboyant" trois foie, and the "iridescent" citrus salad, there's just something about the place that, to a companion, screams "great personality but unfortunate looks." Oh, Frank. Has it been that bad? [NYT]
Next up, the Hodg, the Cuozz, the Bruni(blog), the Platt, and more!
2) The Hodg, also feeling a bit more generous than last week, checks in at Tocqueville's new location, checks out the two-star merchandise.
The place feels like the sort of Hollywood restaurant favored by bright, young MGM starlets in the 1940’s. But the average age of the clientele is reassuringly high (and there’s a decent supply of prospective rich, older husbands). Everyone looks good.Prospective partners aside, the French-American-Brazilian-Spanish-Portuegese cuisine seems to go down nicely, particularly the pheasant, suckling pig, and sardines. Requisite Alexis de Tocqueville mention (yes, it hurts) slips in right at the end: he'd have approved. [Observer]
3) The Cuozz takes a small bite out of everyone's happy springtime mood to point out that spring isn't actually here yet. At least, not in the "spring menus," which try and distract would-be local pea-eaters with Mexican asparagus and Greenmarket dandelions. He's disappointed by Mas, Tocqueville, and Rain, admires Dona's "brave front" of a vegetable risotto, and is still waiting for real soft-shell crabs, shad, and grass-fed spring lamb. When can he expect it? When the jackets are off. [NYPost]
4) Back to Bruni, who takes a break from the Hooters/Mars visits to contemplate, like so many bloggers before him, the eternal question (no answers, ever) of where to find NY's best burger. Obviously, he's surveying the heavy hitters, including Shake Shack and, of course, Burger Joint and promises more on Corner Bistro and others, such as Rare. Utterly un-shockingly, the comments boards are alive with the sound of comments. [Diner's Journal]
Elsewhere, the Daily News sifts through AOL's CityGuide City's Best List results, makes us wonder who's voting (Happy Ending best bar? Crobar best club??); NYCNosh gets all up in sage at the Upper West Side's Arte Around the Corner; Augieland awards WD-50 an Augieland-ish "772 contemplativillian" stars, especially for the carrot-coconut "sunny side up"; $25 and Under tries the fries at LES joint Zucco Le French Diner; Tables for Two heads to Brooklyn for some Sopranos-style Noodle Pudding; and, last but never least, Adam Platt compares Country to Town, finds it "worthy." Ah, spring.
