Results tagged “alexure”

After busy weeks of hype surrounding high profile restaurant openings like Adour and Bar Boulud, which feature a laser projected bar menu and standalone charcuterie kitchen, respectively, it's now time to catch your breath with some chefs who are mixing their concept food with a trace of nostalgia for after-school snack-time. (And opposed to the trendy new kids on the block, you can actually get a table to taste these fun foods.)

With his wife Martine running the front of the house, chef Alex Ureña has made a few more adjustments to Pamplona, their small East 28th Street restaurant known as erstwhile hell for sconce connoisseurs, but consistently a solid bet for modern Spanish food at a good price point. Following Frank Bruni’s 2 star Times review in November, Pamplona introduced a weekday lunch, soon following that up with a brunch menu. Coddled eggs, meet Spanish cured tuna. Cured tuna, meet coddled eggs.

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Sam Mason’s Tailor. Loves the design of the place, and—along with everyone else—the pork belly, the arctic char and the drinks. Overall? “[Mason’s] infatuation with his own imagination doesn’t leave room enough for a self-appraisal of the results… a duck-and-eel terrine in a chocolate consommé tastes like cat food splashed with Yoo-hoo.” Hee. In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Toloache. Calls the upscale Mexican restaurant a “welcome addition”...

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Alex Ureña’s Pamploma, gives the restaurant two stars. “Pamplona is Ureña [the chef’s former restaurant] with an attitude adjustment,” he says. “His best dishes are more than memorable enough to redeem Pamplona’s shortcomings.” In the Post, Cuozzo goes to BLT Market, where he finds “Tourondel’s first fully-composed dishes since Cello.” Says the restaurant revives the corner of Sixth Ave and Central Park South, and “What BLT Market...

For almost two decades, the 35 year-old chef Alex Ureña has been quietly working behind the scenes at some of New York’s most well regarded restaurants: His very first kitchen job was at The River Café during Charlie Palmer’s tenure. A few gigs later, Ureña was translating the contents of Ferran Adrià’s first cookbook for David Bouley, a chef he spent 7 years with and considers a mentor. Alex Ureña later served as executive chef of Blue Hill, Marseille, and Suba and between gigs in New York managed to clock time in some of the highest rated restaurants in France and Spain. Ferran Adrià’s approach informed the menu of the short-lived Ureña, the chef’s first go around as owner (with wife Martine Gren). The New York Times food critic Frank Bruni awarded the restaurant 2 stars but complained about its interior, calling it “the ugliest restaurant with great food that I know,” and singling out the dining room’s bright lights as an impediment to a good meal. Ureña closed in August and re-opened last month as Pamplona, with the light fixtures now a little dimmer. We spoke with Alex Ureña last week at Pamplona as the chef prepared for dinner service.

This week's New York Mag runs down some of this season's upcoming restaurant openings -- better start planning now. We've already given you the scoop on Will Goldfarb's Picnick and Peter Hoffman's Back Forty, due in September and October respectively, but we're looking forward to some of the other spots highlighted by Rob and Robin, especially noodle shop Bun, from Mai House chef Michael Huynh and his wife, Thao Nguyen, and El Quinto Pino, from the Tia Pol gang.

- Last week Ed Levine took a swipe at the Zagat designation of Telepan as Top Newcomer, alleging that is received some localized favoritism. Tim replied in the comments, and now Ed takes a staring role as the big man with a mea culpa.

Fromagers Waldemar & Nadia team up with Telepan Restaurant for the third in a series of Saturday afternoon cheese and wine tastings. This time around they have paired summertime artisanal cheeses with wines from Telepan's list. You'll learn all about each pairing while you sip and taste. $65 per person, reservations are required. Call 212-580-4300 for reservations. 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., 72 West 69 Street, between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.