N.Y. State of Restaurant Minds (and Our Meal at the Elm)

The Elm is one of the few restaurants to open this year that seems to be after three stars from The New York Times. The Marrow and Lafayette struck us as concepts that sought the same achievement, but both came up two stars short. We're certain Michael White's team at Costata is chasing three as well, but that review won't be out until (probably) September.

The trend is very much away from fine dining, polished rooms, and chiseled service from suited waiters. It's as if every new restaurant is following what's become the two star template. Pearl & Ash, Uncle Boons, ABC Cocina, Montmartre, Hanjan, and Mighty Quinn's have all opened in the past seven or eight months and have all received two stars. They are fun, casual eateries where reservations and a month spent saving aren't necessary to eat there.

Click to read more ...

The Sun Will Come Out The Marrow

After winning the first season of Top Chef, Harold Dieterle set his sights on New York, where he opened Perilla with Alicia Nosenzo in May 2007. The food there, according to the restaurant's website, is "seasonal American." Kin Shop came next, and for that menu Dieterle looked to Thailand. The team opened The Marrow in the last weeks of 2012, and this time, Dieterle let his roots inspire the cooking. In his review of Dieterle's third restaurant today, Pete Wells explains, "Half his menu is inspired by his father’s German roots. The other half draws from the Italian cuisine of his mother and her relatives."

Wells finds a riff "between dishes that are completely sure of their purpose and the ones so overembellished it’s unclear what the idea was meant to be." The restaurant's namesake dish, served with sea urchin, is "a pun on textures, a delicious joke that you got with your tongue. Some dishes, though," he continues, "made me wonder whether I’d missed the punch line."

Wells is enamered with Jill Roberts' wine list and pastry chef Ginger Fisher's desserts. The ginger stout cake, for example, "really is worth jumping up and down about." But, because of inconsistencies Wells finds throughout the menu, he awards The Marrow just one star. [NYTimes]

A Taste of Tastes to Come

Summer is (unfortunately) over.  September will sometimes hang on to the warm weather and allude to an endless summer, but the cool breezes of late carry the rigorous truth.  It's time to get back to work.  The last quarter will be a busy one for restaurateurs, many of whom are approaching the remaining months of 2012 with a double-or-nothing attitude.  Michael White has The Butterfly and Ristorante Morini on the horizon, Andrew Carmellini will add The Library in the Public Theater and a yet-to-be-named French place to his resume, and the Torrisi guys will introduce The Lobster Club and Carbone to Thompson Street.  In addition to the double features, a slew of other restaurants are opening by the end of the year and we're excited.  Here's a look at a few storefronts with news about the restaurants moving into them.

Click to read more ...