New York Restaurants

[Lafayette by Krieger] One of New York's best-kept secrets, Lafayette, is finally rolling out its brunch menu this weekend. This is the new restaurant from former members of the Cafe Boulud and Craft teams in the space that previously housed Time Cafe/Fez. The menu includes smoked salmon Benedict, prime beef tartare, spring vegetables with eggs and trotters, pancakes, fruit dishes, and waffles, plus items from the dinner and lunch menus. Check it out, and impress your friends by going here before word really gets out about this place: Lafayette Brunch 5.25.13 by Eater NY Brunch starts at 10 a.m., and Lafayette will be open for brunch on Memorial Day, too. · All Coverage of Lafayette [~ENY~]

Riveting. As the cuss- and shove-prone owners of Scottsdale's Amy's Baking Co. flub their way through a ballyhooed restaurant reboot and a spurious PR campaign to match following their disastrous turn on Gordon Ramsay's more-or-less staged Kitchen Nightmares, local media have done the impossible in coming up with a fresh angle on the story. It turns out that co-owner Samy Bouzaglo, an Israeli citizen, has been the subject of an ongoing immigration case and may face deportment. An unintentionally serious-hilarious NBC report quotes a "High-Ranking Law Enforcement Source" who says Bouzaglo is "banned" from France and Germany over something that maybe had to do with drugs that happened "30 years ago." Two more things: The immigration case, which is apparently important enough to make prime-time news, has been in court for more than two years; also, that whole thing about there being no such thing as bad publicity turns out to be patently untrue. [USAT, Earlier, Related] Read more posts by Hugh MerwinFiled Under: big scoop, amy bouzaglo, amy's baking company, kitchen nightmares, samy bouzaglo, tv

New York Times critic Pete Wells just dropped a zero-star "satisfactory" review of Graydon Carter's The Beatrice Inn. To soften the blow, here are the harshest lines, presented by adorable kittens. · The View From West 12th [NYT] · All Coverage of Critical Cats [~ENY~]

A collection of links from the reporters and editors of the Dining section.

Beatrice Inn's steak tastes like latex, says Wells. This week, Adam Platt gave Lafayette, a "big, spangled, category-killing brasserie," two stars. Stan Sagner gave the same rating on behalf of the New York Daily News, while Joshua David Stein praised what he called Andrew Carmellini's Great Gatsby of restaurants, an endeavor conducted in a "blessed" space. But despite the glowing reviews, a dark cloud hangs over the Other Critics this week: This is the second-to-last review from Robert Sietsema, and there will be no more from Tejal Rao, both of whom are no longer writing for the Village Voice. We will miss their weekly columns. Pete Wells ventured to the Beatrice Inn and found the steakhouse to be "satisfactory" but largely "unremarkable." He likened the "band of fat" around his steak to a "latex protective sheath," noting it was "shot through with gristle." Despite the "debilitating" noise level, this West Village restaurant is a place to "look and listen" — but don't you dare photograph any of the notable diners. The menu explicitly states that "photography is not permitted." He liked the food better when Brian Nasworthy was cooking, but he's since been dismissed. No stars. Joshua David Stein calls Lafayette the Great Gatsby of restaurants. The "blessed" space is the setting of "golden-glow maximalism" or a "magical first date." Yet, despite its "pageantry," the menu is surprisingly "sober," almost "cautious," and ultimately not "anything to write home about." He mentions the "perceptive" addition of raclette cheese to a brisket burger, the "tremendously undercooked" steak redeemed by good fries, and "excellent" foie gras terrine. Stan Sagner also ventured to the "nightly pandemonium" at Lafayette, calling the menu "inconsistent — sometimes wildy so," with many dishes "tasting like versions 1.0." He notes the "disconcertingly cold, raw centers" of the scallops à la plancha and the black fettucine, "likewise, prematurely snatched from the pot." Yet Sagner was impressed by the "marvelous" Fleur de Soleil pasta (a favorite of Platt as well), which he likens to "spring in a bowl." Lafayette is the place to go "if stargazing trumps food," though Sagner will be back "when the Carmellini-worthy restaurant that's trapped within emerges." Two stars. Robert Sietsema wrote his penultimate review for the Village Voice on the "iconic conjoinment" of chicken and waffles revived by Williamsburg's Sweet Chick. Sietsema calls the "thickish crust" and "pillowy flesh" of the fried chicken "perfect of its type" and the waffle "sweet without being too sweet" and "light in texture without floating off the plate." Though some of the apps (like a pickle plate and a kale BLT) are "remarkably good," Sietsema suggests avoiding non-chicken-and-waffle entrées and the cocktails "aimed at 12-year-olds," which don't pair well with the signature dish. The New Yorker's Nick Paumgarten filed on Carbone this week. He found even relatively lighter dishes like the bass Alison to be "hefty." Of the starters, he liked the garlic bread and "excellent" Caesar salad." But ultimately, Paumgarten declares the endeavor as "over-move-y," writing, "the portions and the prices are as formidable as the pretense and the patter." This is exemplified by his description of the tiramisu surrounded by lady fingers, a dessert which resembles a "Twinkie fort." Jordana Rothman callled Nightingale 9's atmosphere "awfully dour." The food isn't much prettier, but it is good. "You want to know about the pho," she says, as it's "herbaceous and bright." Rothman praises an "ugly" yet "funky" salad topped in papaya dressing "that might be the most interesting salad in Kings County." Like much of the menu, that papaya dressing includes nuoc cham, a condiment that chef Robert Newton has made about as ubiquitous in his restaurant as it is in Vietnam; its "recklessly potent aroma" mingle with that of street food and noodle dishes, "dashes of it enhanc

In the wake of Monday's tornado, Danny Bowien is heading back to his hometown of Oklahoma City this weekend to do some fundraising for the relief efforts. He'll be on the line along with some local chefs at the OK Chefs Relief pop-up restaurant on Sunday and possibly Monday, cooking for anyone willing to donate $35 or more to the Red Cross. No word on a menu, just that it'll be "spontaneous cuisine" made from donated ingredients. [NewsOK]

Ryan Sutton likes the recent menu changes at Gabe Stulman and Tien Ho's Montmartre. On the entrees: "Pot-au-feu ($44, for two) becomes pot-au-pho, with cinnamon-clove aromas coming off the beef and intense marrow-spiked broth. It's loaded with oxtail richness and the clean spank of Thai basil that makes this hot soup okay for summer. Duck for two ($78) is code for duck tacos, thanks to buckwheat pancakes. Giant slabs of roasted breast meat give way to your knife with ease, while braised leg practically shreds itself after a good stare." Sutton gives the restaurant two stars, with a special shout-out to Tien's sweet and salty fries. [Bloomberg] As noted yesterday, Pete Wells is not a fan of Graydon Carter's The Beatrice Inn: "Lamb porterhouse showered with roasted artichoke leaves was very satisfying once I ignored the grainy, salty sauce of dried black olives around it. So were crisp and fresh fried oysters with smoked char roe, as long as I didn't focus too much on a bitter and blandly sweet citrus purée." Goose egg. [NYT] Joshua David Stein files on Lafayette this week: "Astute is exactly how I would describe most of the food. Inspired? Not really. But smart and perceptive, certainly. Raclette, a cheese too often confined to blanketing potatoes, ennobles a very good brisket burger at lunch. Muscat grapes, like capers, are used to great effect, as in a perfectly prepared dorade, where they cameo in an update of sauce veronique, or at lunch, where they top little grilled shrimpies and are studded with capers." [The Observer] Gael Greene files on two relatively new Upper East Side establishments: 83 1/2 and Cocina Economica. On the former: "The service alternates between friendly, effusive and wrong table, but that's forgivable given a lemony caponata, the familiar eggplant stew with pine nuts and raisins to pile on toast, and fricco, parmesan crisps that we're dragging through a thin 'aioli' of Calabrian chili and honey. Only the watery housemade ricotta with pesto disappoints. My friend finds her Sicilian gimlet with homemade limoncello pleasantly refreshing. She gives me a sip. I agree." Ms. Gael not wowed by the Mexcian fare at Cocina Economica. [Insatiable] [Lafayette by Krieger] Adam Platt gives two stars to Lafayette: "The small-plate toast dishes popularized by Jean-Georges at ABC Kitchen are called tartines here, and you can get them piled with spoonfuls of opulent duck-liver mousse ($8) or Selles-sur-Cher goat cheese, decked with tomatoes and slivers of fresh radish. My classic beef tartare ($18) was a much better deal than the mealy Hawaiian prawns ($19 with sauce verte), but if you're in the mood for serious feed, begin your dinner with the lardon-rich salad frisée, which is served on a plate the size of a small hubcap." [GS/NYM] [Nightingale 9 by Krieger] Although she's not a fan of the decor, Ms. Jordana Rothman likes Robert Newton's take on Vietnamese fare at Nightingale 9: "The iconic Hanoi dish cha ca la vong—typically turmeric-blasted fish served with a pickler's pantry worth of dill—is served as a rice noodle bowl, with sprigs of the herb, crushed peanuts and fingers of fried catfish that might be equally at home at Seersucker, the American Southern restaurant Newton operates nearby. Peanuts and slippery vermicelli noodles also anchor the bun cha bowl, with patties of charred Berkshire pork and curls of belly meat, a chop of scallions and leaves of butter lettuce." Three stars out of five. [TONY] [Sweet Chick by Krieger] In his last review for the Village Voice, Robert Sietsema recommends the signature dish at Sweet Chick in Williamsburg: "The menu's bedrock is the venerable combo of chicken and waffles. This being the 'Burg, the fried chicken mimics the extensively brined product sold not far away at Pies 'n' Thighs, with a thickish crust and pillowy flesh. While my own preferences are for a dusting of flour and not brining the bird (making it chewier but more

Instead of a review this week, Steve Cuozzo offers his recommendations for al fresco dining. He likes Sripraphai, Riverpark, Nougatine, Cafe Boulud, and also La Caye in Fort Greene. Of that last restaurant, Cuozzo writes: "At twilight, broiled conch with Creole sauce and black rice superimposes Caribbean warmth on the 'new' Brooklyn." [NYP]

Pit beef, from Baltimore. America is a regional country: Food that's core to the identity of one place — chili on spaghetti in Cincinnati, Spam on everything in Hawaii, Kool-Aid pickles in the South — is treated as nothing more than an oddity elsewhere. With that in mind, Grub Street set out to track down all of the country's hyper-regional sandwiches: individual creations that, for one reason or another, seem to exist only in particular pockets of America. To be clear, there are some things you won't see here: po'boys, lobster rolls, muffulettas, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, cheesesteaks, club sandwiches, Dagwoods, burgers, patty melts, or any sandwich that consists of simply placing some other kind of regional specialty — brisket, pulled pork — on bread. Those are the chart-topping hits of the sandwich world; this list is about the deep cuts. The country is full of weird, wonderful creations that you've probably never heard of unless you live in their natal home: Gut-busters like the Midwest's horseshoe (an open-faced sandwich covered with cheese fries), upstate New York's beef on weck (named for its carraway-studded roll), or even chow mein sandwiches from Fall Rivers, Massachusetts (exactly what they sound like). Some of the sandwiches on this list have facsimiles outside their places of origin; others are only to be found in the areas where they were invented. They may differ wildly in concept, but that's the whole point — the thing that all of these sandwiches do have in common is a fan base in some particular neck of the woods, and the potential to grow those devoted fans all across America. Read more posts by Grub StreetFiled Under: grub guides, lists, sandwiches

Headed home. The Mission Chinese chef will head to Oklahoma City, his hometown, to cook with Jonathon Stranger of Ludivine on Sunday and Monday, News OK reports. Local chefs Kurt Fleischfresser, Chris Becker, and Marc Dunham round out the line for the impromptu pop-up OK Chefs, which will donate 100 percent of its proceeds to the American Red Cross in support of relief efforts. A growing group of New York chefs and food businesses is also raising money for tornado victims. [News OK, Earlier, Related] Read more posts by Hugh MerwinFiled Under: oklahoma, danny bowien, jonathon stranger, ludivine, mission chinese, new york, new york restaurants, oklahoma city, san francisco