This week Sam Sifton at the Times is pleasantly surprised by Tamarind Tribeca, the capacious upscale Indian restaurant in Tribeca. "Tamarind is an extremely pleasant place to dine, and despite the size of the room, it is possible for a group to have a conversation there as if in a private home," Sifton marvels. "So, have a drink and consider some curry-laced crab cakes and crisp pomegranate samosas, and the promise beyond them of a menu that can take diners across India in the name of flavor, and represent that nation’s varied cuisine with pride and great skill." more ›

This week in Eat Cetera: All the lamb you can stomach at the American Lamb Takedown, Tuesday tequila tastings at Zengo to satisfy your alliterative cravings, and San Rocco's new aperitivo bar, featuring cocktails by Richard Boccato (Dutch Kills). more ›

It's nice to see the great recession hasn't snuffed out everyone's ambitions; take, for instance, this triple-decker restaurant and bar opening tomorrow night in the gigantic space formerly occupied by Wild Salmon. Called Zengo, the Latin-Asian fusion restaurant is the work of Mexican chef and restaurateur Richard Sandoval (Maya, Pampano) and Chef de Cuisine Akhtar Nawab (Elettaria RIP). Maestro Placido Domingo is a partner in the project, which also has locations in Denver and D.C., and the design is by big shots AvroKO. That's some serious firepower, which they're hoping will break a streak of failures at this daunting (cursed?) location. more ›

Yaargh, the frothing 17,000 square foot vortex at Third Avenue and 40th Street has swallowed up many an ambitious restaurant, and even left jaunty Jeffrey Chodorow with nothing but an ivory stump for a leg. Some say that spot on the map is cursed by a foul wind, and no one's been fool enough to set sail for it in years, ever since that monomaniacal Captain Chodorow lost his leaky Wild Salmon to tropical storm Frank. more ›