This week Frank Bruni at the Times tells Zak Pelaccio (Fatty Crab) to get his shit together at the West Village's Cabrito: "On its best nights and judged by its best dishes, Cabrito is the Mexican restaurant so many of us dreamed about for so long. It has just enough sophistication and upscale trappings, manifest in the quality of its cocktails and length of its tequila and mezcal list, to be the plausible cynosure of a fun night out, not just a grubby refueling station where the price of dauntless, authentic flavors is a spartan atmosphere." BUT: "Cabrito is afflicted by an inconsistency that’s puzzling, even maddening. There are dishes that don’t seem, by nature, to rise to the caliber of others, and dishes that aren’t dependable from one visit to the next." more ›

Restaurateur Rohini Dey holds a Ph.D. in economics, formerly managed foreign investment policy at the World Bank, and owns hit Indian-Latin fusion restaurant Vermilion in Chicago. But despite her supposed business savvy, she just couldn't stop herself from going through with opening her glamorous, 12,000-square-foot New York City restaurant "At Vermilion" last November (photos). Obviously not the best timing, and today the Times checks in on the place, which was deemed a major "flop" by the Village Voice. Dey tells the Times, "From Day 1, we knew that this was a bad time to open, because every investor told us that. I persisted. Why? Well, because fools rush in." And lose their shirts. The place needs $6 million to $10 million a year to stay afloat, which means they have to start serving twice as many diners as they're getting now. No sweat, right? more ›

If there was ever a time to open a glamorous new bi-level restaurant in midtown, this ain't it. But you've got to admire restaurateur Rohini Dey for going through with this NYC outpost of her acclaimed Indian-Latin American restaurant, called Vermilion in Chicago and At Vermilion here. If you build "At," they will come—and hopefully they'll still have a line of credit available. Her ambitious new location features a double-height water curtain, a 22-foot metal mesh chandelier, and huge black and white photographs taken by Indian fashion photographer Farrokh Chothia. The lower level is a spacious bar/lounge with communal dining; the upstairs dining room can accommodate 200. more ›