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Interim Times restaurant critic Eric Asimov awards one star to Brad Farmerie's Saxon & Parole this week. He deems the ambiance—"part bluegrass men’s club, part Cracker Barrel"—pleasing and warmly appealing, but problems arise with the execution of the menu:
As appealing as the menu seems, the rendering is inconsistent. A salad of diced roast beets with watercress, spiced pecans and feta is a superb composition, a blend of sweet and bitter, soft and crunchy. But another salad of endive, frisée and spinach with maple-glazed grapes seems ill-defined, dominated by the sweet grapes, which lack a contrasting flavor.He loves the burger though, mentioning it in his Diner's Journal post and calling it a "veritable explosion of umami" in the review. But in the end, "a little more attention to consistency and execution in cooking and service could make the difference between win, place or show." [NYT]...Between these poles are decent, satisfying, unremarkable dishes, like a terrine of foie gras with a sweet, tangy peach and onion relish, and tender mussels in a tomato-and-caper broth.
Ryan Sutton thinks the Franks should have stuck to Brooklyn and has this to say of Frankies 570: "Our pork was grilled into an arid, mealy chew. Lentil soup, a high point in Brooklyn, was nondescript, which was better than the rank rabbit liver terrine. For the privilege of eating such food, the host quoted a 90-minute wait and promised to ring us when a table was ready (and then forgot to call)." [Bloomberg]
Jay Cheshes awards four out of five stars to the Manhattan version of Fatty 'Cue: "His new Fatty ’Cue, in the West Village, builds on the successes and failures of what came before it—in this space and others—replacing the increasingly rudderless, off-brand Cabrito with his most ambitious restaurant to date. It’s a new Fatty flagship, the sexiest of the bunch, with more elevated food, service and drink." [TONY]
Adam Platt calls Romera ambitiously flawed, awarding it just one star: "In a town overrun by fashionable speakeasies and upscale burger joints, this kind of abstruse, European, performance-art cooking can have its charms...the two desserts on the menu of this ambitiously flawed, strangely misconceived restaurant...are, like much of the food here, more pleasant to look at than to eat." [NYM]
THE ELSEWHERE: Manhattan magazine awards two stars to John DeLucie's Crown, Ligaya Mishan does a round up on macarons in New York, Tables for Two contends that Monument Lane in the West Village has improved with the addition of chef Robert Berry, and Lauren Shockey tries the goods at three new ramen joints.
THE BLOGS: Serious Eats gives a B to new Prospect Heights ramen shop Chuko, NY Journal is impressed with the revamp of The Monkey Bar, Goodies First prefers Kin Shop to Lotus of Siam, Eat Love NY thinks Four and Twenty Blackbirds is where pies go when they die, Immaculate Infatuation loves the charm of old school Celeste and its proprietor Carmine, and Gotham Gal calls Jody Williams' Buvette a gem.
