Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

Bruni doubles up this week, visiting both Pera in midtown and Dennis Foy in Tribeca. Each restaurant receives one star and the summation that they're worth stopping by if you're in the neighborhood. At Pera, the grilled meats stand out, though Bruni warns, "Stray far from 'tradition' and you risk disappointment, or at least boredom." He likes Dennis Foy's "French-inflected" food, particularly the gnocchi and the crab tian. Calls the restaurant "a worthy but low-wattage addition to the New York dining scene."

Eater (scroll down) is off by a star on each, having bet that both restaurants would receive two.

Also in the Times, Peter Meehan stops by Chickpea for $25 and Under. Restrains himself from declaring it the best falafel or shawarma in town: that's "a fools errand I won't run," he says. He does say that "Chickpea gets more of the details right than most other places in the set it competes with." He also likes the freshly baked pita, the condiments, and the cleanliness of the place.

Cuozzo’s got the latest on troubles at the Russian Tea Room, from which chef Gary Robins departed last week. Customers are staying away; wine getting lost; staff turnover very high; staff ignorant of the food/wine they’re serving. The list goes on.

Alan Richman goes to Harry's Steak for Bloomberg News. He likes it for its decent steak. He also likes it because it's the antithesis of the recent steakhouse boom: "No bovine beauty contests, grass-fed versus grain-fed. No identifying the state (or in the case of wagyu, the prefecture) of origin. No pointless personal information. [Owner] Harry Poulakakos doesn't pretend to be operating a dating service where man meets cow." Heh. But don't expect much beyond the basics or by way of decor.

And in the NY Sun, Paul Adams visits Varietal. "Jaded diners hungry for something unusual will find plenty to dote on here," he says. The restaurant has Ed Witt, formerly of Il Buco, cooking; Jordan Kahn, formerly of Alinea in Chicago, as pastry chef, and an enormous wine list (80 wines available by the glass). It's a trio that doesn't always mesh seamlessly, though: "complication is still the watchword."