Gathering the Early Word on Four Day-Old Colicchio & Sons

This past week, Tom Colicchio (now getting into Twitter) opened Colicchio & Sons, a venue loosely based on the success of Tom: Tuesday Dinner, in his former Craftsteak spot. The closing of Craftsteak and subsequent opening of Colicchio & Sons reveals a pared down, comfort-food-friendly menu meant to suit the current dining and economic climate. Menu options suggest a shift from pricey, steakhouse staples to composed, sometimes precious dishes like Lamb Loin with Merguez Sausage and Lentils, Capon "Pot Au Feu," and Gnocci With Chestnuts, Bone Marrow and Black Truffle. Reviews of all sorts have been trickling in over the last few days:

The Good, but Overpriced News: An Eater commenter weighs in: "Was there last night...food was excellent, if a bit overpriced. Many of the dishes were inspired by food previously served at Tom: Tuesday Dinner, but slightly tweaked. Chef Tom was at the wood burning oven while we were dining. Lovely dining space: Craftsteak with a few changes in decor and furniture. Will probably return." [Eater Comments]

The Early Rave: The Wordsmithing Pantagruel posted a positive review of the opening night menu, which turned out pleasantly surprising: "I'm normally disappointed with Venison steaks, as I often find them a bit lean and while having decent flavor, a bit boring. Not this one; it had excellent gaminess but still rich and intoxicating texture and flavor, very well done." The capon was "not a dish I would typically order, but it was a real winner. The meat was perfectly cooked, with a rich consommé and a variety of textures from the white meat, the dark meat, and the velvety richness of what I assume was the liver. Yum, fantastic." [The Wordsmithing Panagruel]

The Gael Greene Insta-Assessment: Gael tweets: "Missed Tom @Colicchio & Sons las ngt."lst night he's not here," manager apologizes. Definitely will return.Had takehome carrot muffin brkft." [Twitter]

The Bad News: The only review so far on Yelp: "I really, really, really wanted to love this restaurant. And maybe I will someday, it did *just* open. But ultimately I thought Colicchio&Sons tries too hard in a way that Colicchio's original restaurant Craft just doesn't have to. Everything is just a little too fancy here and the flavors become muddled and it becomes tiresome." [Yelp]

The Good News: A Grub Street reviewer reported that while the lamb and hamachi were "uneventful," the cheese board "is not to be missed, perfection with a dizzying array of local and world cheeses" and that "the winners of our main course were the perfectly executed rabbit and the moist delicious cod." All in all, the opening was "solid and impressive." [GS]

The Pretty Good News: For The Food Doc, entrees were mostly a hit. The roast capon was "moist and succulent, and the accompanying sauce was just delicious," and the lamb loin "was cooked medium rare, allowing it to remain tender and juicy, and was complimented well by the spiciness of the merguez sausage and the earthiness of the lentils." However, appetizers were mixed: the gnocchi were "light and pillowy," but his table "could not appreciate the bone marrow and the black truffle that was supposedly in the dish," but the sweetbreads "were more successful." Ultimately, the food was "wonderfully executed," but the prices seemed "a tad exorbitant." [The Food Doc]

The Excellent News: For an early zagat reviewer, a great experience was had by all: "Excellent food, great ambiance, and top notch service. I would highly recommend this restaurant without thinking twice." The waitstaff seemed "well versed in the new menu and was very helpful," and suggestions include the "monkfish and sirloin steak, both were cooked to perfection." [Zagat]

The Torn Twitterati: Tweets ranging from "Had an amazing meal at Colicchio & Sons, fun to eat composed food by TC again!" (@LizWillette) to "sorry Tom but my cod tasted like a rubber chicken" (@hellofrancisnow) have been posted. A solid middle ground was reported by @redsam: "nice start, went to first night preview of colicchio and sons, great food, right cuisine, not sure the space matches the food, loved it."
—Evan Barbour