Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

Bruni goes to Franny’s in Brooklyn, rates it a top pick, awards it two stars, and calls himself a newly converted “besotted Franny’s believer.” Says Franny’s simplicity—they serve crostini, cured meats, pasta and pizza (along with a few other items)—“is deceptive. The restaurant finds transcendence in dishes and genres that wouldn’t seem to yield so readily to invention or open the door to so much pleasure.”

And Cuozzo says Little Italy is “drawing unaccustomed buzz” on eGullet, for new restaurant Focolare, and on Eater, for institution Forlini’s. He likes Focolare, except for the noise level and the fact that they play Top Chef continually on a television; as for the rest of Little Italy, he remains unconvinced that it’s anything but a tourist trap.

In the NY Sun, Paul Adams goes to Borough Food & Drink, Jeffrey Chodorow’s latest. The restaurant offers food from all over the city; Adams says chef Paul Williams “seems to act more like a curator than a chef.” He likes the pork jowl pizza and bean salad. Says the sandwiches are good but greasy, and stay away from the fried chicken and brisket.

Ryan Sutton stops by BLT Market for Bloomberg News. The restaurant, located in the Ritz on Central Park South, “could be one of Tourondel’s best,” he says. He loves the seared cod with kaffir lime, the langoustine risotto, and the lamb loin.