The people who protested the yuppie scum at the Bowery Wine Co., the East First Street wine bar that boasted celebrity investor Bruce Willis, when it opened in 2008 may have won in the long run. Eagle-eyed EV Grieve noticed that on this month's CB3 SLA agenda there is an item listed for the space where the wine bar currently lives (it ain't dead yet!). And who appears to be looking to move in? No less than the team behind West Village Italian foodie-magnets Dell'Anima and l'Artusi. more ›

This week the Times's Frank Bruni piles on Shang, a restaurant in the Thompson LES Hotel helmed by the acclaimed, formerly Toronto-based chef Susur Lee, whose first mistake is making Bruni exercise: "The staircase was the first befuddlement and miscalculation I encountered — and a clue that the evening and restaurant might not be all I’d hope for. It’s a long, drab, foreboding rise of steps from the sidewalk to the host station, an entrance less inviting than aerobic. I’ve gone on runs that didn’t leave me as winded." As for the menu, some dishes are "intensely pleasurable," but overall it's "inconsistent and uneventful. The magic that Mr. Lee reputedly made in Toronto hasn’t followed him here." more ›

Missy Robbins took over as executive chef at A Voce last September with her style of cooking that's both neatly composed and rustic Italian. In one appetizer, for example, huge rectangular planks of seared trumpet royal mushrooms are gently set on a cloudlike hazelnut fonduta and simply garnished with greens and truffles. It may look like a salad on the plate, but served with a glass of red wine, it eats like a steak dinner. At her last chef gig—Spiaggia in Chicago—Robbins attracted the attention of Barack and Michelle Obama, who were regulars. And in today's New York Times, Frank Bruni does a little hail-to-the-chef thing: “As we all wonder whether our new president has the requisite judgment to steer us away from economic catastrophe,” he writes, “we can take some comfort from this: he has the requisite judgment to appreciate Missy Robbins.” more ›

The guys behind the smallish, always packed Dell'Anima in the West Village have expanded with L'Artusi, named after Pellegrino Artusi, the celebrated (and long dead) Italian cookbook author. Chef/owner Gabe Thompson and owner/wine director Joe Campanale have taken the sit-at-the-open-kitchen concept that's so popular at Dell'Anima and run with it, with even more seats at the L'Artusi counter to watch the sparks fly. The new 110-seat restaurant (which used to be Maremma) emphasizes seasonal Italian cuisine. And though it may be a lot bigger than Dell'Anima, you probably won't notice because all those stripes are very slimming. more ›

Even after only being open since October, Dell'Anima, the brainchild of some Babbo and Del Posto alums, is already tough to get into. Sure, it's partially because it's a small space, with seating for just over forty, but it's also due to the cozy, warm and inviting atmosphere, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and for the delicious rustic Italian fare. more ›