Wednesday Food News: Early Edition

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Lebanese Ilili, saying “Ilili is probably the atmospherically grandest excursion into Middle Eastern cooking that New York has ever seen.” While much of the menu is inconsistent, he loves the kebabs and kaftas. Says the service is “occasionally confused.” And get the essmalieh for dessert.

In Dining Briefs, Peter Meehan goes to Abraço Espresso (pictured), says “it’s tiny, it brews excellent coffee, and the little food that it serves is way beyond coffee-shop caliber.” Julia Moskin visits Community Food and Juice, says it’s “the most welcoming restaurant to appear on the Upper West Side in years.” Not every item on the menu works, but the food is healthy, environmentally conscious, and it’s “a near-ideal neighborhood restaurant.”

Steve Cuozzo goes to Chop Suey in Times Square for the Post, loves it, to his surprise. “Its colorful, Zac Pelaccio-conceived pan-Asian dishes are quirkily, kaleidoscopically attuned to the light show outside the wraparound windows,” he says. The menu is Korean-influenced Southeast Asian. But go quickly, he warns, as “Chop Suey’s future is up to the hotel suits, who might be tempted to dumb the menu down for tourists.”

In the NY Observer, Moira Hodgson likes Belcourt’s “charm and hospitality,” though “the cooking is uneven… and the salads are also hit or miss.” She loves the brandade dumplings in a zarzuela, the lavender-scented spaetzle with roast pork belly, and a breakfast omelette made with lamb tongue. Says skip the desserts and get a cheese plate instead.

And Paul Adams visits Bún for the NY Sun. Says “the bún and pho bowls are not the best of the bunch. There’s more going on in other small plates, which are, incidentally, easier to share as well.” He likes the spring rolls, the bass, and the duck hearts and tongues. And he’s crazy about the hot tapioca pudding for dessert. Service is terrible, however.

In other reviews, Ryan Sutton goes to Chop Suey and Soba Totto; Restaurant Girl has suggestions for Valentine’s Day; Adam Platt is at Bar Blanc and Brasserie 44; Sietsema goes to Peter’s Since 1969; and Tables for Two visits Omido. In the blogs, Andrea Strong has Valentine’s suggestions, goes to Seymour Burton; NYC Nosh goes to East in Midtown; and Gael Greene is at WD-50.

Photo of Abraço Espresso by Jaminsky.