Pete Wells Gives Two Stars to Bobby Flay's Gato

As rumored, Pete Wells pays a visit to Noho hot spot Gato this week. He is pleased by Bobby Flay's return to the the New York restaurant scene and to the kitchen, where the celebrity chef is "really, truly working" on a regular basis:

"Rabbits have a famous love for carrots, but I've never seen one take to the vegetable the way Gato's juicy braised rabbit leg takes to its carrot hot sauce, which tastes like sweet fire. Nor have I tasted a tarragon chicken in which the minty-licorice character of the herb had the flute-note brightness it has at Gato, which carpets the bird's crisp skin with a variety of salsa verde made from chopped raw tarragon."

Wells finds some dishes have a little too much punch, but overall he is impressed with the broad Spanish-Mediterranean menu, and with the fact that Flay is actually in the kitchen, "not twirling cilantro sprigs at the pass but facing the burners." He gives Gato two stars.
· A Glimpse (and a Taste) of Celebrity [NYT]
· All Coverage of Gato [~ENY~]
[Gato by Krieger]

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324 Lafayette St., New York, NY