It is August and with so few big new openings of late can you blame restaurant critics for not having much to criticize? Still, they aren't all off loafing. The Times's Sam Sifton, for instance, is on this week, bringing the world his two-star take on Daniel Boulud's latest, Boulud Sud. more ›

Last week New York's Adam Platt pointed out all the rich white people (Woody Allen! Lloyd Blankfein!) happily dining on Italian fare at The Leopard at des Artistes and today it is Sam Sifton's turn. In his two-star Times review the critic makes a real effort to point out the important people he saw (Jon Corzine, the directors of the Whitney and MoMA, a VP at the Met). But beyond Manhattan society, Sifton is also charmed by the restaurant's renovation since Cafe des Artistes closed (you really can't top Howard Chandler Christy's cavorting nypmh murals) not to mention the restaurant's "simple food, apparently simply prepared." The fare isn't cheap but chef Vio Gnazzo's dishes are deceptively easy, and reportedly worth it. The dishes "taste not so much cooked as composed." more ›

No Sam Sifton review in the Times this week, but that doesn't mean that most of New York's food critics aren't still on duty, which means we've got some restaurant reviews to parse! Over at the Post Steve Cuozzo dines at Daniel Boulud's latest biggie, Boulud Sud, and leaves the Mediterranean restaurant with a two-and-a-half star review. "There are more flubs than you expect after three months, such as sloppy, sticky baby goat orecchiette," but over all the restaurant is a pleasing, grown-up experience. The decor is "sheer Manhattan-modern" and makes "all look young" and the food? Well "Forget 'Mediterranean'—this is modern-American cookery at its chameleon best, the fish serving as a platform for uncompromised seasoning that doesn't nullify the main event." more ›

Andrew Carmellini's SoHo insta-hotspot The Dutch gets not one, not two, but three major reviews this week and—though faults can be found with the service, the noise and the cramped seating—the "American cuisine" there is reportedly worth writing home about. "So here is where you want to be right now, all of you who care about good food and the theater of eating it," The Times's Sam Sifton purrs in his glowing two-star review. The restaurant has the atmosphere of "A Balthazar for Generations X and Y, a “21” Club for post-Reagan youth," and even the "clunkers" in the food department soar to "better than decent" heights. It is a scene, but "it is exciting." more ›