The New Yorker's Andrea Thompson is mostly pleased with Roman's, which replaced Bonita in Fort Greene (but is still under the same ownership Marlow & Sons ownership). "That many of the guests seem to be friends of the staff, or neighbors in for their weekly supper, gives it the happy hecticness of a house party," writes Thompson. But ugh: "The studied amateurishness of the atmosphere infects the service in slightly annoying ways. Trying to help a table select a wine, a waiter offered two ambiguous adjectives: 'fleshy' and 'funky.' Inquiring about the provenance of the meat elicited a look of disdain, as if it should be unnecessary to have to say that it was locally sourced."

And Adam Platt files on two French bistros for New York: Bistro de la Gare in the West Village and Alain Ducasse’s Benoit in midtown. At the former, "the dishes on the entrée list are fairly ambitious for a fifteen-table joint, and the best of them tend to be more Italian than French." At the latter, chef Pierre Schaedelin "has revamped and expanded the classic brasserie menu, instilling it with some much-needed professional zip."