But with less Dan Aykroyd and more fried pig tails. The pork-heavy Williamsburg restaurants Fatty 'Cue and Brooklyn Star, buds since the way back days (Fatty Cue's general manager actually used to work for Brooklyn Star), are teaming up for a one-weekend only menu switcheroo. It could be great, it could be a disaster...either way, it's an intriguing concept. more ›

This week the Times sends Sam Sifton to take a look at The National, chef Geoffrey Zakarian's European-style cafe in the Benjamin Hotel, and he comes back with a solid one-star review. "In a city run through with restaurants set in hotels, serving food appropriate to hotels, for people who stay in hotels, in neighborhoods growing crowded with hotels, the prospect of yet another hotel restaurant to visit or avoid may fill some of us with the weary sense that we are in the midst of a historical moment that is deeply uninteresting...But the National makes a case that it is different, decent and worth it." In particular Sifton is charmed by the "appetizing" and inviting decor (from the ever-present David Rockwell) and the "simple but not really" menu executed by Paul Corsentino. more ›

Times dining critic Frank Bruni has finally left the building in a fusillade of publicity, and his replacement Sam Sifton didn't file this week. But in the "Dining Briefs" section, Betsy Andrews reviews the Brooklyn Star, a cozy Southern comfort restaurant in Williamsburg run by Joaquin Baca, a former partner in the Momofuku empire. She says Baca "excels at making veggies fattening, and good. His casseroles ($8) — garlicky summer squash and mushroom-rich green bean with slivered almonds — are toasted to gooey goodness in his open kitchen’s 100-year-old brick oven. Creamed corn with smoked trout ($4) and earthy black-eyed peas and rice ($4) are spoonful-by-spoonful delicious. Surprisingly for the former Momofuku partner, meats are a mixed bag." more ›

Brooklyn Star: Former Momofuku partner Joaquin Baca has gone solo in Williamsburg, with this handsome little restaurant a few blocks from the L train. The Southern comfort menu includes options such as corn bread ($4), Dr. Pepper Ribs ($16), Fried Pig Tails ($11), BBQ Catfish with grits and fried cucumbers ($13), and Smothered Porkchop with scalloped tomatoes and string beans. Inside the open kitchen, a 100-plus-year-old oven, a relic from when the place used to be a pizzeria, imbues the food with the appropriate degree of smokiness. NY Mag finds out how much money Baca spent to make his dream a reality, and here's the menu from Brooklyn Star's website. No liquor license yet, but they do have plenty of cool, refreshing ice tea and root beer! 33 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn; (718) 599-9899 more ›