Eaters' Journal 9/5/08: Apiary, Spotted Pig, The Richardson, Lure, and More

Krieger, 8/12/08

Apiary: There's nothing wrong with the East Village newbie, except for the fact that it is completely and utterly soulless. Typical design, dime-a-dozen menu, cloyingly eager service, loud as hell. The food is very competent—Moroccan chicken has nice pop and the bird is juicy, for example—but generic achievement dish after dish had me cranky by the time the $65/head bill hit the table. Platt, Freeman, Levine all in the house on the same random weekday night. 2/5 stars coming from Freeman; 1 or 2 from Platt, if he reviews it at all. — BL

Lure: Late lunch at Lure yesterday enlivened by the emergence of chef Josh Capon from the kitchen bedecked in Giants gear, on way to some sort of epic tailgate at Giants Stadium. — Lock

Spotted Pig: In honor of fall, and having gotten her back from the Michelin tourists, lunch on Tuesday was on West 11th Street. Listen here, people: Spotted Pig is serving the best lunch in the West Village. Pizzeriod. Heirloom tomato gazpacho is tart and silky-smooth—a consistency suiting very few gazpachos, but making this one a small cup of genius. The cubano sandwich to follow is perfect. With two hour waits at 7 PM every night of the week, it's straight-up criminal that is lunch a near ghost town. — BL

The Richardson: Williamsburg just got its third cocktail lounge, this one situated near the East 'Burg/Greenpoint border in the vicinity of Daddy's. Not as atmospheric as Hotel Delmano but still better looking than Huckleberry Bar, it's a good addition to the nabe. Delmano's former cocktail man Jeff Hansen was on hand on a recent Tuesday, mixing up some of the classics and a few surprises (try their weirdly delicious sasparilla). — Kludt

Dang Lai Palace: East Side vegetarians crushed by the shuttering of the Union Square Zen Palate (and out of delivery range for Gobo) have a friend in Dang Lai Palace, a new veggie Chinese place at Third Avenue and 16th Street that should be receiving a cease-and-desist from Zen Palate's lawyers any minute now. All your favorites are present, many with the SAME NAMES: mini-veggie loaf, rose petals, sesame medallions, sweet and sour sensation, etc.. And, dare we say, the yam fries are better this time around. Bonus: Dang Lai is on Seamless Web. You never gave us THAT, ZP — Arak