Reviews for Manzanilla, The Modern, Maysville, and More

Steve Cuozzo awards two stars to chef Dani Garcia's Manzanilla: "Most entrees ($26 to $34) command high ground. Intense and moist, tarragon- and spinach-stuffed chicken roulade almost made up for predictably dry breast meat. Bomba rice blackened with squid ink is done risotto-style, unlike Luis Bollo's paella version at Salinas. (In fact, there's no paella on the menu at all.) I miss crunchy socarrat at the bottom, but sweet shrimp and pasta-like cuttlefish ribbons that melt on the tongue compensated." [NYP]

As noted yesterday, Pete Wells upgraded The Dining Room at The Modern from two stars to three. Here's Wells on one of the exceptional dishes: "Two cured fillets of sardine (one smooth and silver, the other crackling and golden with a thin sheet of brioche seared to its skin) were outfitted with crisp artichoke chips and dots of artichoke purée, but the warm heart of the dish was a bright sauce of tomato confit, black garlic, green olives, roasted red peppers and blood oranges. Eat it and you almost felt the summer sun beating down on your head." [NYT]

Jay Cheshes is also won over by chef Dani Garcia's Manzanilla: "The chef, best known for mixing nostalgic flavors with modern technique, delivers sleight-of-hand spins on Spanish classics—never too self-consciously showy—that display more novel accents than exclamation points. New-wave tapas to nibble with flutes of dry sherry include a delicious riff on pan con tomate (tomato-smeared toast), with cured tomato pulp seasoned like sirloin in a mock steak tartare, featuring the classic sharp condiments (mustard, capers et al.) and sweet-sour rounds of spherified mango jiggling like quail-egg yolks on top. His super-savory squid-ink croquettes—oozing warm béchamel—come six to an order in a porcelain egg carton, nestled between dollops of citrus and cilantro aiolis." Four stars out of five. [TONY]

Adam Platt gives two stars to both Hanjan and Maysville. On the latter: "Many of the heavier, potentially lumpen dishes at this neo bourbon bar are elegantly arranged on the plate (the crispy fried chicken leg, the duck, the rib eye served atop collard greens and puréed potatoes and smothered in a tangy vinegar gravy), and the lighter ones (the pink smoked trout, the arctic char dressed with tiny orange mussels) are light enough so that you'll still have room for your dessert." [GS/NYM]

Although she thinks the service needs some work, Tejal Rao recommends Red Gravy: "Thick ruffles of reginetti ($19), made with semolina and chestnut flour, are layered in a nuanced sauce of braised rabbit meat. A bowl of bucatini, served with melting dollops of sea urchin and slices of pickled cherry-bomb peppers ($29), looks very small and plain for its price tag, but taste it and you'll find it's an undeniably gorgeous dish, swimming in salty butter and white wine, delicately sweet with basil." [VV]

Stan Sagner gives four stars (out of five) to Andanada 141: "The menu's first two appetizers might seemingly come from any tapas bar. Pan con Tomate ($6), a minimalist staple of grilled bread scrubbed with raw garlic and tomato, sticks to the script. In contrast, Patatas Bravas ($13), a sort of Spanish tater-tot, retains only that dish's name. What arrives is a miniature still life consisting of marble-sized potatoes encrusted in a bowl of dehydrated, milled black olive 'earth.' Tiny, emerald green pea shoots sprout to complete the illusion." [NYDN]

THE ELSEWHERE: Gael Greene is surprised by how much she likes the food and cocktails at Maysville on a second visit, Ligaya Mishan likes many of the dishes on the perhaps overly-ambitious menu of Crave Fishbar, Robert Sietsema loves the seafood dishes at El Omda in Astoria, Silvia Killingsworth likes the smørrebrød at Aamanns-Copenhagen in Tribeca, and Joshua David Stein enjoys the forward-thinking food at Manzanilla more than the scene.

THE BLOGS: Serious Eats recommends the pork platter at Hanjoo in the East Village, The Immaculate Infatuation dudes give a 7.9 rating to Kotobuki in the East Village, Eat Big Apple has a sensational meal at Neta, Chekmark Eats offers her list of the best matzo ball soups in New York, NYC Foodie enjoys his meal at Maysville in the Flatiron District, The Pink Pig samples the Mediterranean fare at Thalassa, Goodies First checks out a handful of Williamsburg restaurants, The Food Doc files a glowing report on the fifth anniversary dinner at Momofuku Ko, and NY Journal has an excellent (and pricey) meal at Carbone.
[Krieger]
· All Coverage of Reviews [~ENY~]