For the past few years the celebrated English chef Fergus Henderson (St. John) has been coming to New York for a brief tour of April Bloomfield's restaurants affectionately dubbed 'FergusStock.' Well, Henderson is back and this year you don't even need a reservation to taste his offal-centric fare (think pig's head with beans for two). Just a lot of patience. The seating for all three of his engagements this week are first come, first served. more ›

This week Frank Bruni at the Times bestows two stars on chef April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman (The Spotted Pig) for their new high-end seafood pub The John Dory (pictured), in the Meatpacking District: "In what is clearly a labor of not just love but also vivid (sometimes too vivid) imagination and real guts, [they] have fashioned a place that doesn’t look like any other and that doesn’t taste like any other, either...But experienced in aggregate, too many dishes are too blunt. The overall flavor spectrum is too narrow, a wallow in buttery, creamy and salty effects. I sometimes left feeling overwhelmed — maybe I should say capsized — in a way I seldom do." Still, Bloomfield's menu is full of "nervy surprises." more ›

Fans of SpongeBob SquarePants and anyone who attended Phish shows circa 1993 are in for some serious flashbacks upon entering The John Dory, the new seafood-centric restaurant that's wildly decorated with an aquatic theme and murkily lit in submarine hues of dark turquoise and sea green. An illuminated fish-in-water inlay in the floor runs the entire length of the space, echoing a similar inlay in the bar, where a massive fish tank bubbles. more ›