Blue Hill Keeps Its Three Stars, Kappo Masa Is as Impressive as it Is Expensive, and More Reviews

Yesterday Ryan Sutton reviewed Marta, Danny Meyer's smash hit new pizzeria. Now here's a roundup of the rest of the week's reviews:

Pete Wells found Blue Hill as good as ever: "Mr. Barber's approach is to intensify ingredients that are pretty intense already. Looking at the saturated orange color of fat slabs of roasted carrot "cutlet," I could tell it was going to taste richer and rounder than any carrot I had met before." He gives it three stars, just as Frank Bruni did in 2006. [NYT]

Tejal Rao finds a few good dishes but an ill-equipped staff at Italian import Mulino a Vino: "[Davide] Scabin set the kitchen in motion and then he left New York, which isn't unusual for famous international chefs with more than one restaurant. But on my most recent visit, when I ordered a perfectly harmless salad, I got the impression the waitstaff could have really used some more time with him. 'That right there is the black spaghetti' the waiter said, pointing to one end of my plate. Because I'm used to spaghetti that looks like a long noodly sort of thing, and not a pile of gunpowder, I asked him to tell me more. 'I don't know!' He said, raising his voice, clearly annoyed. 'That's just what they tell me.'" She gives the restaurant one star. [Bloomberg]

Joshua David Stein is awed by Kappo Masa, Masa Takayama's new high-end Japanese restaurant in the Gagosian Gallery: "the tuna tartare ($34) is a tiny mound of torn bluefin tossed with wasabi over a thin layer of scallion, atop a monolithic ceramic pediment of Mr. Takayama's own design. 'Tai' sea bream with white truffle and ponzu, mother of god. Of the extensive rolls, the kanpachi jalapeno roll ($34) and spicy tuna roll ($22) are, though not particularly adventurous, pleasing." He awards the restaurant four stars. [NYO]

Zachary Feldman visits Williamsburg's new-ish Pasar Malam, and declares it the "best Malaysian restaurant" in the city: "I will take to change.org posthaste if he ever stops serving satay babi, meltingly tender grilled pork skewers festooned with pineapple relish. Likewise his Hainanese chicken over rice, prepared atypically with heavily rendered, crisp skin and served still on the bone; or mee goreng, stir-fried noodles adorned with shrimp fritters and chile sauce." [VV]

Stan Sagner is impressed by Patti Jackson's prix fixe menus at Delaware and Hudson: "Make some room for Jackson's startlingly fresh roasted striped bass and accompanying heap of summery succotash. It's not often that lima beans steal the show, but these are delectable. The dish of the night was meaty roasted foraged maple oyster mushrooms atop a simple, but decadent, parsnip purée." He give the restaurant four stars. [NYDN]

Steve Cuozzo swoons over the view, if not the brunch buffet, at the newly reopened Rainbow Room: "although too new to review one week after opening, the menu clearly needs work. Well-turned out breakfast favorites are the way to go: marvelously runny scrambled eggs, honey-baked ham, smoked salmon, sweet-spicy chicken sausage and perhaps the best pain perdu (French toast) in town." [NYP]

Adam Platt loves the Roman pizza and the wood-grilled meats at Marta: "The lamb chops...were perfectly charred on the evening I sampled them and served with the salty little ribs on the side for maximum fatty goodness. The nicely sizzled costata di manzo short ribs receive similar treatment, although if you're looking for a breather in the midst of all this red meat (and pizza), try the sweet, almost peachlike, roast swordfish." He gives the white hot pizzeria two stars. [NY Mag/GS]

THE ELSEWHERE: Ligaya Mishan gushes over the soup dumplings at The Bao in the East Village. Shauna Lyon actually likes the deep dish Chicago pizza served at Emmett's. Gael Greene loves almost everything at Botequim, the new Brazilian restaurant beneath The Fourth.

THE BLOGS: Chris Stang is pleased with the Smile, The Pink Pig is impressed by the pork at Arrogant Swine, Chopsticks + Marrow has a solid steak and eggs breakfast at Kane's Diner in Flushing, NYC Foodie checks out the tacos at Empellon Al Pastor, NY Journal is not blown away by White Street, the Food Doc gets on team Marta, and Chekmark Eats is a fan of Bar Bolonat.