Einat Admony's West Village Restaurant Bar Bolonat Is Hitting Its Stride, Says Pete Wells

Pete Wells reviews Einat Admony's latest effort, Bar Bolonat, and declares it on the upswing. It "stumbled at the start, as ungainly as a day-old giraffe, and only recently found its footing," he writes in this week's review. Wells finds some unusual, but intriguing flavors on the menu:

I'd never tasted anything exactly like her shrimp in a Yemenite curry, with a fiery shot of green zhug and a small round of fried bread called malawach to soak up the spicy, turmeric-gold coconut milk. I wanted more food like this in my life, but I wasn't in a big hurry to face the decibels again.

Admony remedied the sound level, adding paneling to the ceilings, fought the city to add extra seating, and swapped out executive chefs, ultimately settling on Molly Bridenthal. "When I ate there this month, the cooking was more assured than it had been, the spices applied more fearlessly." There are still some kinks to work out, says Wells, but "The giraffe is on the move." Verdict: Two stars.