Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

Bruni three-stars L'Atelier Joel Robuchon. While "it hit the ground limping," he says, "it improved quickly and greatly, and your focus can now fall on its mostly exhilarating food." He also finds at L'Atelier a new contender for the city's best haute burger: made with Kobe beef, foie gras, caramelized peppers and brioche buns.

The Eater oddsmakers are back and right on the money: even odds on three stars.

Also in the Times, FloFab's got the news that the Russian Tea Room will reopen in a month. Closed since 2002, the new chef will be Gary Robins, formerly of the Biltmore Room in Chelsea. The food will be modern continental. From earlier in the week, here's the chatter about it on eGullet. [via Eater]

Peter Meehan throws down in $25 and under: he's found the city's best new hamburger, he says, and it's at a dive bar called Royale on Avenue C. Nothing much about the place is remarkable besides the burger, says Meehan: sports on TV, Bruce Springsteen and Chrissie Hynde on the jukebox. But we like dive bars and burgers, so we'll be checking it out.

The Post has Cuozzo raving about langoustines, the Scottish crustacean (a mini-lobster of sorts) which, due to the difficulty of getting them live, appears rarely on local menus and mainly as a special. He quotes Le Bernardin chef and owner Eric Ripert: "It's the flavor of a live animal, the ocean, like a wave coming at you."