Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup

Frank Bruni heads to Williamsburg to check out Rye, the South 1st Street joint from chef Cal Elliott (Dressler, Dumont). The NY Times restaurant critic admires the former bodega decor, where the "woodwork and pressed tin ceiling look like lovingly restored" and its "long, gorgeous mahogany bar," but ultimately offers one star: "Rye needs to be more consistent... when Mr. Elliott hits his mark, the cooking appealingly complements that atmosphere. It’s mostly a mix of bistro stalwarts and of-the-moment comfort foods like a side of macaroni and cheese, the non-slider sliders and the meatloaf sandwich, wet and wild enough to qualify as a sloppy Joe — an enormous, fantastic one at that. The mix of meats in its crunchy embrace included beef, veal, duck and pork."

Gael Greene is back to reviewing restaurants for a publication: Her first review for Crain's New York is of Locanda Verde, the Robert DeNiro-owned eatery located inside the former Ago in Tribeca. With chef Andrew Carmellini at the helm, Greene swoons over the "handmade farfalle—pasta butterflies with clams, sweet pepper and chorizo," "sensational garlic-roasted chicken for two turns out to be more than enough for four," and "lamb meatball sliders with goat cheese."

The Village Voice's Robert Sietsema falls under the spell of Hunan House, on Northern Boulevard in Flushing, suggesting, "It may be the first authentic Hunan restaurant in town, though Manhattan places like Hunan Pan and Hunan Balcony have been fecklessly name-checking the province since the 1970s, while offering little that was identifiably Hunanese." Pickled peppers were a frequent component of dishes, such as the "braised fish with pickled chile sauce": "Dramatically, the head of the fish rose, nose-up, from the middle of the plate, like a volcanic atoll. Peeling the flesh off its cheeks, neck, and forehead, we confirmed that the head was the prize of the plate."

Flatiron District Mediterranean joint Aldea may not elaborately decorated, but the Daily News' Danyelle Freeman enjoys the "sophisticated and complex" dishes like the "wonderful riff on paella made with duck confit, rice, chorizo, black olives and crispy duck cracklin's" and a "cuttlefish a la plancha with coconut-curry foam, squid ink and herb purée," which "comes alive in a playground of harmonious flavors." However, the bacalao was a disappointment.

And the even more modestly appointed Katsuno ("all the atmosphere of your therapist’s waiting room") wins praise from Time Out New York: "Katsuyuki Seo (who also operates Seo in midtown) has clearly funneled his energy into where it ought to be: the kitchen. There, he conjures some of borough’s most impressive, finely wrought Japanese cuisine—authentic, modern preparations he honed working in the kitchens of Tokyo." For instance, one standout dish at the Forest Hills restaurant was a "a pristine appetizer offered a refreshing tangle of yuzu-drizzled greens topped with thick folds of raw salmon, capers and sprigs of dill; on the side were generous mounds of golden uni balanced on sturdy, pleasingly bitter petals of endive."