Sam Sifton at the Times devotes the first 350 words of his review of Riverpark to the craaaazy location, all the way "on the far eastern shore of Kips Bay... occupying a chasm between the New York University Medical Center and the sprawling wards of Bellevue Hospital Center, tucked away at the far side of the lobby floor of the Alexandria Center, a new medical building at the dead end of the street... Explosions and fire would look cool against all the glass and emptiness, with the darkness of the East River in the distance... It supports a feeling of transience and anonymity, almost as in a dining room in a city far from your own. Jason Bourne, table for two." Good stuff, but what about the food? A solid two stars. "Certainly you can eat well," Sifton decides. "(Drink, too: The bar serves a wicked take on the Manhattan, with rye wisped through with single-malt Lagavulin, a smoky delight.)"

"The most annoying aspect of Top Chef is the underlying implication that the show is creating the great chefs of the future," declares the Village Voice's Robert Sietsema in his review of Thai restaurant Kin Shop, in Greenwich Village. "In my experience, the reality is quite different... The shining contradiction is Harold Dieterle, the first season's winner... Kin Shop dives head-first into Thai—funky fish sauce, exotic herbs, and all. As I sat gazing down at my squid ink soup ($10) one evening, I felt like Philip Marlowe before he passed out from a blow to the head in Murder, My Sweet: 'A black hole opened up at my feet. I fell in.' " Time Out's Jay Cheshes also likes Kin Shop, giving it three out of five stars.

The Post's Steve Cuozzo posits: "Some new restaurants sound boring, from their names to their menus. What could possibly be exciting about Atlantic Grill Lincoln Center, closely modeled on B.R. Guest's original Atlantic Grill on Third Avenue? Nothing, if you crave culinary daring. But it's exactly what the thriving Lincoln Square area needed: a non-touristy, value-for-money eatery equally appealing to locals and the hordes flocking to Lincoln Center and the new Apple store."

Speaking of Lincoln Center, Ryan Sutton at Bloomberg is the latest critic to express his disappointment with Lincoln. "Eventually, Jonathan Benno’s $20 million Lincoln should become the destination restaurant it’s meant to be," says Sutton. "The food has a long way to go, but the digs are really nice... Sip your potable, swivel in your leather chair and contemplate the reflecting pool outside -- if you’re sitting in the East room."