New York City's restaurant critics hit the outer boroughs hard this week. To start, Sam Sifton took his Times expense account to Brooklyn Heights to sample Alex Sorenson's cooking at Colonie and liked it well enough to award it one star. While Sorenson's cooking is praised (he "does well by the forest floor," especially with mushrooms, and the food has a "brightness to it, a clever happiness that comes through on the plate.") and much is made of the neighborhood's need for more quality restaurants, Sifton has a bone to pick with the management. When they are they on the floor things are great "but absent the bosses the service can take on a mediocre, almost perfunctory feel." All in all Sifton approves, he just seems to wish they made more effort when it comes to feeding folks promptly. more ›

Click through on the photos for more details on NYC's recent restaurant and bar openings, which include the Kickstarter-funded Colonie in Brooklyn Heights, GO Burger's debut on the Upper East Side, British pub grub at Jones Wood Foundry, upscale yet inexpensive Italian at Lido in Harlem, and affordable Thai at midtown's Dee Daa. more ›