Tomorrow, Sam Sifton files a St. Patrick's day review of Tom Colicchio's re-do of the former Craftsteak space, Colicchio & Sons.
THE PLAYBOOK: As talented as superstar chef Tom Colicchio is, his new attempt at the former Craftsteak location, Colicchio & Sons, has not been universally loved by the critics and the bloggers. The restaurant itself takes up a large, soaring, very mid-aughts kind of space and has two fairly distinct identities in its lower end Tap Room and pricier main dining room (just like its predecessor). As far as food is concerned, the reviews mention major misses, sloppy execution, a comedy of errors, and a generic menu. Meanwhile, the consensus on those feisty message boards is that Dom Tom was doing his best work over at Tom: Tuesday dinner.
Not looking good, but is it goose egg territory? The man is still a capable chef, and enough of what he serves at this new spot reminds the diners of that. It'll be hard for Sifton not to give it a one, perhaps with some deductions for the prix fixe shenanigans. But in its heart, this place is a goose.
SIFT HAPPENS: If it's a total botch job and Sifty is feeling less than generous—he does have a light trigger finger when it comes to the goose eggs—he'll go zero.
THE LINE: Goose Egg: 3 - 1; One Star: 2 - 1; Two Stars: 20 - 1; Three Stars: 400 - 1; Four Stars: 25,000 - 1. [Colicchio & Sons Reviewed, NYT; after ~8PM]