Reviews for Root & Bone, Cherche Midi, and More

Yesterday Ryan Sutton reviewed Tavern on the Green (spoiler: it wasn't good). Here's a roundup of the rest of the week's big reviews.

Pete Wells tried Patti Jackson's four-course prix fixe menu at Delaware and Hudson. On the first course: "The first thing to land on the table after you choose your main course is a galvanized pail of hot pretzel rolls, boiled in lye and studded with white salt crystals, like Amish rhinestones. The chewy, yeasty pretzels were wonderful smeared with ramp butter or a green mash of fava hummus that came out alongside breakfast radishes and crisp, cool slices of fennel." One star. [NYT]

Zachary Feldman is mostly impressed with Root & Bone. Fried chicken is the big hit, but "[p]each 'caprese' yields particularly bountiful returns. Grilled fruit is rendered candy-sweet against heirloom tomatoes, basil, molasses vinegar, and a fistful of fried pimento cheese, which stands up to the dish's sour ingredients better than mozzarella ever could...Beer adds a malty slap to 'skrimp & grits,' a main course of snappy gulf shrimp sautéed with chewy shreds of Edwards Virginia country ham and organized around a thick hillock of chunky, creamy corn porridge." [VV]

Stan Sagner finds a solid, if expected menu at Cherche Midi: "You'll get more surprises reading young adult fiction than eating at Cherche Midi. The main courses are so by-the-book that you'll think the chef has all his recipes stored in a culinary 3-D printer.Then again, these dishes are classics for a reason. Flawlessly roasted Chicken Breast ($28) perches above a nest of gnocchi, morels and melted leek. The honey-colored skin crackles as you bite into the juicy, vibrant meat." Three stars. [NYDN]

[Root & Bone by Krieger]

Christina Izzo files a double review of two new fried chicken joints, Wilma Jean and Root & Bone. On the latter: "Seersucker's weekly fried-chicken special is a Wilma menu mainstay and for good reason, with thick-battered crunch giving way to stunningly juicy meat ($14). That stellar bird also comes speared on a stick ($5), a gas-station novelty that shares soul with the crisp-edged bologna sandwich ($5), a joyously junky tribute to Newton's native Arkansas." Three stars for each. [TONY]

THE ELSEWHERE: Hannah Goldfield finds a few good dishes at The Pavilion in Union Square. Jeff Gordinier travels to Indian Road Cafe in Inwood. Gael Greene has a few complaints, but loves the pork chop at Root & Bone.

[Blenheim by Bess Adler]

THE BLOGS: Chris Stang finds Peasant solid but touristy, and likes Extra Virgin better, The Food Doc looks back on Momofuku Noodle Bar's 10 years in existence, Goodies First goes for burgers at Peter Luger and Corner Bistro, Chopsticks + Marrow finds great Thai at Paet Rio, The Pink Pig remember a lunch at Le Bernardin 10 years ago, and NY Journal is impressed with Blenheim.