Reviews for Grand Central Oyster Bar, Rosette, and More

Yesterday, Ryan Sutton awarded one star to Danny Bowien's Mission Cantina on the Lower East Side. Here's a roundup of the rest of the week's big reviews:

Instead of reviewing a New York restaurant this week, Pete Wells travels to Paris to sample Alain Passard's vegetable tasting menu at L'Arpège: "There are tasting menus that leave you glutted and blunted. This one made me feel more awake. I don't just mean that I didn't need to be carried out to the Rue de Varenne on a stretcher at the end of the night, although that was nice, too. Mr. Passard's cooking pulled me in like a conversation with a smart, literate, funny friend." Wells thinks this is an international splurge worth taking. Because this is a "Critic on the Road" review, no stars are attached. [NYT]

Stan Sagner gives two stars out of five to Grand Central Oyster Bar: "Can you get a great piece of fish at the Oyster Bar? Sure. The Dover Sole Meuniere ($39.95) is as good a rendition of this classic dish as you might find anywhere. But it's served like a blue plate special: accompanied by a sad still life of one boiled potato, a single broccoli floret and some pureed squash. It's as if the side had been swiped from a hospital tray." [NYDN]

Zachary Feldman finds an uneven menu at Rosette on the Lower East Side. On the entrees: "[G]litz and glamour can't redeem past-its-prime black cod glazed and sitting in a saccharine, musky sauce that clashes with a mélange of artichokes, sunflower seeds, and sprouts sitting to the side. A parsnip 'steak' fares little better, its bulkier segments still fibrous and undercooked, the whole affair lacking char and dominated by hazelnut butter. Rosy, perfectly cooked wagyu sirloin with creamed kale and a block of potato pavé is the sole exciting main course." [FitR]

[Gato by Krieger]
Alan Richman is the latest critic to write a positive review of Bobby Flay's Gato: "There's something wonderfully old-fashioned about Gato, a downtown restaurant that isn't very downtown in style. It's not about the scene, the trend, the noise, or the cocktails. It's about one man's cooking, recognizably Flay's despite so many accents sprinkled on it or cooked into it. To me, the food seems fundamentally based on French technique, which trumps all other influences." Richman gives the restaurant three stars out of four. [GQ]

[Photo: Bunker via Facebook]

THE ELSEWHERE: Gael Greene loves the duck and almost everything else at a friends and family meal at Decoy, Hannah Goldfield of Tables for Two likes almost every dish at Bunker in Ridgewood, and Ligaya Mishan digs the quirky riffs on Korean favorites at Dotory in Williamsburg.

[Bar Bolonat by Krieger]

THE BLOGS: Immaculate Infatuation's Andrew Steinthal awards an 8.4 rating to Bar Bolonat, NYC Foodie gives a huge thumb's up to Shaun Hergatt's Juni, The Pink Pig tries a few of the savory items at Wafels & Dinges, The Food Doc has a pleasant meal at Front Toward Enemy, Eat Big Apple is wowed by Paul Liebrandt's menu at The Elm, and NY Journal gives one and a half stars to Narcissa.

· All Coverage of Reviews [~ENY~]
[Top Photo: Grand Central Oyster Bar by Noah Kalina]