Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup

In his penultimate review before abdicating his NY Times throne, Frank Bruni bestows four stars on Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park, just one week after giving Meyer's Union Square Cafe a tough-love demotion. A four star ranking from the Times is still a big deal, at least from the Times's point of view: only five other restaurants in NYC currently hold that status.

The unimaginatively named Eleven Madison Park opened in 1998, and Bruni bumped it up to three stars in 2007. At the time, it "needed a bit more polish in its service and a lot more sparkle in its food. Over the last three and a half years, it has received precisely that, in measures that increased steadily since the arrival of [chef Daniel] Humm...The difference between good and great cooking of this kind is often knowing where the creamy, buttery, unctuous tipping point is — and stopping just shy of it. Mr. Humm does that expertly." (Bruni also recommends Bar Luna [photos] on Amsterdam Avenue for "gently priced wine in a handsome, comfortable, convivial setting.")

Speaking of Bruni, the Village Voice's Sarah DiGregorio files an early review of Frank Bruni's new memoir, Born Round (in some bookstores now!). She says it "makes for a breezy read. Even at its darkest, it goes down easy. But the book bogs down in details like Bruni's mom's kitchen renovation and accounts of too many fruitless dates (it's hard to have sex if you won't take your windbreaker off). After reading Bruni for years, it feels odd to suddenly know his secrets, which put his reviews in a new context. His pieces were always well written, but hinted little of the big, funny personality that shines in the book." Meanwhile, Robert Sietsema presents a roundup of Thai restaurants in Woodside and Astoria.

The Post's Steve Cuozzo raves about The Standard Grill (photos): "It's the right eatery at the right time—a fully realized, Modern American place amid a zoo of forward Italian, neo-Japanese, fancy steak, almost- French and wannabe Mexican joints. Standard Grill's dishes aren't as elaborate as Gramercy Tavern's, as impeccably sourced as Blue Hill's, or as original as Dovetail's—but they're the best dishes you'll see at these prices, and often better than similarly conceived ones elsewhere that cost much more."