Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup

This week the Times’s Frank Bruni hands down a generally favorable verdict on Persimmon Kimchi House, the 20-seat, communal table restaurant from chef Youngsun Lee, who cut his teeth with David Chang (Momofuku). Bruni admits that “…at least a third of the dishes I tried prompted yawns or head-scratching. But at least another third riveted me, and all in all I enjoyed what struck me as the polar opposite of a cookie-cutter, fashion-driven meal, the Momofuku invocations notwithstanding. Persimmon is an adventure, and the bumpiness of the trip – including spasmodic and sometimes confused service – is in large part redeemed by the price.”

For the Voice, Robert Sietsema digs Harlem Senegalese restaurant Keur Mame Diarra: “Regarded as the Senegalese national dish, ‘cheb’ was probably inspired by the paella brought to the west coast of Africa by Iberian traders in the 16th century. Keur Mame Diarra's splendid version begins with big chunks of dense-fleshed fish, stuffed with a thick purée of garlic, cilantro, and green onions.” In the same paper, Sarah DiGregorio surveys “the curious world of Chinatown bakeries… Never mind WD-50 or Tailor: The most maverick cuisine-bending in New York happens in the bakeries of Chinatown.”

In the Sun, Paul Adams reviews Forge, the expensive new Tribeca restaurant from Marc Forgione, the son of celebrated chef Larry Forgione. The Daily News recently dismissed Marc's debut, but Adams gets it: “The food is solidly American — American even to the point of pointedly poking fun at itself, as in an appetizer of chicken nuggets ($12). These could not be a farther cry from the lifeless, extruded, synthetic-tasting fast-food ones." And speaking of the News, Danyelle Freeman has a rave for Matsugen, the new haute soba restaurant from Jean-Georges Vongerichten: “This is an expensive restaurant that serves exquisite food for peasants, and while we're eating here we all get to enjoy being peasants.” Yeah, why should peasants have all the fun?

Photo of scallops at Persimmon courtesy Midtown Lunch.