Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Café Boulud, reaffirms its three-star status. Says that under Chef Bertrand Chemel (who replaced Andrew Carmellini after his departure in 2005), the restaurant “promises about as much pleasure in the present as it did in the past.” He likes the traditional section of the menu best, but also loves the pastas. Doesn’t love the desserts, excepting the soufflés.

In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Benjamin Steak House in midtown’s Dylan Hotel. Says of the restaurant (opened by former Peter Luger employees), “I could see—and taste—the Luger family resemblance in Benjamin’s sizzling porterhouses.” Likes the “elegant” setting, too. Peter Meehan visits Isabella’s Oven on the LES for pizza, recommends the simple pies, the rice balls and the brocooli rabe. And Marian Burros stops by Aurora SoHo, finds it loud, but with an “intriguing” menu of Italian regional cuisine.

In the NY Observer, Moira Hodgson goes to Rayuela on the LES. Says the restaurant, which serves freestyle Latin food, “is very much a scene, especially for cocktails.” Finds the menu “enormous and confusing,” but likes much of the food, particularly the main dishes.

In the Post, Cuozzo visits the Hudson River Café, which—while it doesn’t have much of a river view—he finds to have an “improbably romantic setting out of New York’s lost machine age.” Says some of the food is “remarkable,” and recommends sitting on the patio.

Paul Adams goes to Monkey Bar for the NY Sun, where he finds many of Chef Patricia Yeo’s unusual flavor pairings to be “a puzzling dissapointment.” Says his neighborhood Chinese place has better dumplings and scallion pancakes. He doesn’t much like the desserts, either.

And Ryan Sutton rides the mechanical bull at Johnny Utah’s. Not really: you have to sign a waiver first. Says the menu is “ambitious and pricey,” the barbeque well-cooked, and the crowd rowdy. He also goes to Justin Timberlake’s Southern Hospitality, which he finds he says, “isn’t a destination barbeque joint; it’s a neighborhood dive.”