Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Sam Mason’s Tailor. Loves the design of the place, and—along with everyone else—the pork belly, the arctic char and the drinks. Overall? “[Mason’s] infatuation with his own imagination doesn’t leave room enough for a self-appraisal of the results… a duck-and-eel terrine in a chocolate consommé tastes like cat food splashed with Yoo-hoo.” Hee.

In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Toloache. Calls the upscale Mexican restaurant a “welcome addition” but finds the menu “overwrought” and the food uneven. Julia Moskin loves Aussie restaurant Kingswood's “big and successful flavor combinations.” And Marian Burros goes to 5 Ninth, which she says has begun recovery after the departure of chef Zachary Pelaccio, but “isn’t on track yet.”

Ryan Sutton goes to the Mermaid Inn’s new outpost on the Upper West Side for Bloomberg News, likes but doesn’t love. “None of the tasty fare is life-changing. And there are missteps.” Says the smaller, cheaper items are the way to go. He also stops by Smith’s, loves the pork and lobster. Atmosphere is cozy.

In the Sun, Paul Adams goes to Alex Ureña’s Pamplona, finds the menu “enjoyable and down-to-earth,” and the restaurant a “pleasant simplification of Ureña [the chef’s previous restaurant in the same space], not a drastic compromise.”

Restaurant Girl goes to Allen & Delancey for the Daily News, gives the restaurant two stars. Says chef Neil Ferguson's offal/organ meat fixation yields some delicious results, yet he can’t seem to operate without them: “When he doesn’t employ animal offerings, fish tends to register as a blank slate, too reliant on accompaniments for flavor.” And desserts are “shy and all too restrained.”

Elsewhere, Adam Platt gives Fiamma two stars; Tailor, one. NYer’s Tables for Two goes to BLT Market. And in the blogs, Andrea Strong goes to Tailor, Salli Vates visits The Sunburnt Cow.