A Shining Moment for Gwynnett St.

Gwynett St. opened on Graham Avenue in Williamsburg last November.  Justin Hilbert is the chef and he worked with Wylie Dufresne at WD-50 back when Alex Stupak was still around.  His food, and a vision from restaurant proprietor Carl McCoy, have resulted in a glowing two star review from Pete Wells.

4, 3, 2, 1, 0 Stars for La Mar Cebicheria

Gaston Acurio is something like Peru's Mario Batali.  His restaurant chain La Mar Cebicheria has locations in San Francisco, Bogota, and Mexico City.  The eighth location opened in the former Tabla space on Madison Square Park last September and it seems like Pete Wells wished it never happened.  Amongst plenty of complaints is the fact that "nearly every chair had a winter coat draped over it, giving the room all the elegance of a church-basement bingo game."

North End Grill Fires Up Two Stars

This week, Pete Wells heads to North End Grill, the newest addition in Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group.  Floyd Cardoz is the chef.  He and his spice rack used to run the kitchen over at Tabla, before it shut its doors in 2010 after a 12 year stint.

No one is too pleased about the restaurant's location.  And despite a couple hiccups in the form of the dull room and lamb that seems to be an afterthought, Wells still finds much to revel in and awards two stars.

Two Stars for Chef Mads Refslund's Acme

Acme is the Cajun-turned-Nordic restaurant on Great Jones Street.  Mads Refslund is the chef and he's very locally minded.  He's also half of the chef team that opened Noma, the 44-seat restaurant in Copenhagen that San Pellegrino has dubbed the best in the world for the past two years.  (If you're lucky enough to have a reservation at Noma, don't pull a no-show).

Mads was present for the beginning of New Nordic Cuisine, an ideal that restricts kitchens to ingredients that can be grown, caught, or locally foraged.  "My whole philosophy is to tell the story of where you are," he says.

Mads Refslund is a man of his word.

Pete Wells + RedFarm = 2 Stars

Pete Wells is a big fan of dumplings.  At Red Farm, the new(ish) market driven Chinese restaurant in the West Village, he gives them and the rest of the menu two stars.

Redfarm is the wok work of restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld and chef Joe Ng.  Joe Ng doubles as executive chef at Chinatown Brasserie on Lafayette Street.

So that makes Ed, Joe, and the dumplings the face of the restaurant, right?

Update on Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 4:22PM by Craig Cavallo

Chinatown Brasserie closes and Andrew Carmellini takes on new lease.  Owners plan to reopen in the same neighborhood under a smaller roof sometime this fall.

Despite a Few Dull Moments, Jungsik Manages Two Stars From Pete Wells

Chanterelle was open at 2 Harrison Street for 20 years, and for 10 years in Soho before that.  The 30 year run came to an end in the summer of 2009. 

Jung Sik Yim took over the space, opened Jungsik, and started serving fancy Korean food to New Yorkers.  His efforts received a dull two stars from Pete Wells today.

I'll Have a Shack Burger and a Star, Please

It sounds like Pete Wells got up on the wrong side of the bed before he wrote the  Shake Shack review.  He left the house with a star in his pocket and decided he'd give it to the Danny Meyer chain.

The Shake Shack empire has brought hundreds of jobs to NYC.  Positions that are filled mostly by the city's youth, a point that has worked for and against the burger chain as Pete Wells marks inconsistency as the recurring theme.

Pete Wells Awards Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria 3 Stars

Pete Wells heads to Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria for this weeks review and leaves quite happy.  While the 3 stars put the restaurant at the same caliber as Babbo, Craft, Marea, and Gramercy Tavern, it also leaves many a bit concerned.