A veteran of Nobu and Ruby Foo’s, Chris Cheung was hired 5 months ago to replace Patricia Yeo at Monkey Bar, the red satin and black lacquer midtown institution known primarily for its, well, monkey theme. In an effort to reemphasize the food quotient of the restaurant, the 38 year-old chef maintains an inventory of global tastes and reassembles them using the template of traditional Chinese food: The curly fries, for example, that come with the burger are made with taro, and the burger itself is served on a bao bun made in-house. The result is not fusion, or an eclectic cook-by-numbers approach to food; Cheung seems to spend a lot of time thinking about ingredients, so the food at Monkey Bar isn’t really served with anything added for dramatic effect, and the plate presentations are relatively uncomplicated. Cheung calls his style “Evolutionary Chinese Cooking.” more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni two-stars Soto, calls the restaurant “an unipalooza like none I’ve encountered.” Don’t stick to the sushi and sashimi; if you do, you’re “missing not only the best of this restaurant but also the point of it.” The service? “Sluggish and absent-minded.” more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Café Boulud, reaffirms its three-star status. Says that under Chef Bertrand Chemel (who replaced Andrew Carmellini after his departure in 2005), the restaurant “promises about as much pleasure in the present as it did in the past.” He likes the traditional section of the menu best, but also loves the pastas. Doesn’t love the desserts, excepting the soufflés. more ›

Bruni visits the recently reopened Provence (now owned and run by Cookshop & Five Points’ Marc Meyer and Vicki Freeman), awards the restaurant one star. He likes the minimal changes they’ve made to the design; the food, not so much: “Provence’s is inconsistent and dull,” he says. He does like the wine and the cheese selection though. more ›

Pictured: Assari Ramen from Menchanko-Tei. more ›

June 29: At the Table: Celebrating Women Chefs & Restaurateurs more ›

Last week, The Delancey played host to the launch of Taste NY, a new TV show about eating in New York. As a co-production of NYC TV and Time Out New York, the connection is obvious from the venue (one of the rooftop bars featured in last week's cover story ahem Drink Up, ahem) to the premiere episode about cheap eats (this week's TONY cover story). The host, Kelly Choi, was on hand to ask what the best thing guests had eaten lately-our choice was the the almond cookie ice cream at The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory but if there is a God the footage of our sweaty face will never see the light of day. Kelly's got charisma to spare, statuesque and a little hyper, not unlike how we imagine Kimora Lee Simmons would come across after some pixie stix and her enthusiam for food has made us love her. Margaritas, punch and straight Corazon tequila got the crowd going and we were more than happy to be satiated by Patricia Yeo of Sapa's catering, especially the lemongrass cured salmon cucumber sandwhiches, more than a little appropriate for the Lower East Side. With unbridled enthusiasm and access to amazing chefs-and kitchens- we'll keep our eye on Taste NY. more ›

Everyone we know is doing something, however small, in response to the devastating disaster, but some are doing what they do best: cook and eat. We've heard of a few food events to benefit the tsunami relief effort, but please let us know if you've heard of any others. more ›

New York Cookbook, by Molly O'Neill (Workman, 1992) more ›

Girlynyc, Panty Blogger more ›

Gothamist Cooks (Kind of) by the Book more ›

Gothamist went to Compass the day her addition was announced in the Times. Many others had the same idea, and Katy Sparks was circulating in the room (we're pretty sure that's her in this picture, on the left), with many diners telling her how excited they were to see her. The low point of the meal was, in fact, the service: Our server freaked out at a busboy, yelling at him and demanding to know where the receipt from the table the busboy had just cleared gone; it turned out another server had taken the receipt to be rung up. Our server apologized with complimentary champagne, but it was still distressing. So, Gothamist can attest to the crappy time it seems Amanda Hesser had. more ›