Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

Bruni one-stars Da Silvano, downgrading it from the two stars Ruth Reichl awarded the restaurant in 1998. He doesn’t quite understand its allure, though he sees occassional glimpses: “Perhaps more than any New York restaurant I know, Da Silvano illustrates... the mind-boggling inconsistency that can exist across the breadth of a menu and a series of visits.” Celebrities love the place, though, he tells us. He even called a few to ask why. Madonna didn't get back to him, but Sarah Jessica Parker did, and she favors the linguini with clams. Why the food critic for the New York Times needs a celebrity to weigh in on merits of a restaurant, we're not quite sure, but good to know that SJP thinks Frank merits a response and Madonna doesn't.

Also in the Times, Peter Meehan visits SobaKoh in the East Village. The restaurant makes fresh soba noodles several times a day, and October is the best time to visit, as the flour (just harvested) is at its most fresh. He finds the soba “toothsome and well-crafted,” and likes the tempura as well.

In the Post, Cuozzo likes Picholine’s facelift, finished in time for the opening of the Metropolitan Opera’s new season. It’s still serving Mediterranean food, but there’s now a two-course prix fixe option, in addition to three, and they also offer more inexpensive items at the bar. And “the spiffed-up dining rooms remain as elegant as ever,” Cuozzo says.

And Cynthia Kilian's got the info on yet another two steakhouses opening this week. Porter House opens on Friday in the Time Warner Building, in the space previously occupied by V Steakhouse. Let’s hope this one, run by Michael Lomonaco of Windows on the World, fares better. And STK, a lounge/steakhouse (whatever that means) opens today in the Meatpacking district.