This week in the Times, Bruni two-stars Soto, calls the restaurant “an unipalooza like none I’ve encountered.” Don’t stick to the sushi and sashimi; if you do, you’re “missing not only the best of this restaurant but also the point of it.” The service? “Sluggish and absent-minded.” In $25 and Under, Peter Meehan goes to Go! Go! Curry where he finds the curry sauce gloopy and sludgy, but ultimately “beguiling.” And they have a mascot......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on West 24th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, another shooting on Rockwell Place and Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, and yet another shooting at 92 -35 215th Place in Queens. Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James' female acquaintance made an amazing amount of money by buying properties from the city and then flipping them for huge profits. Phone records reveal that an upstate teenage driver may have been......

It's July 14, which means it's time to appreciate the je ne sais quoi of all things French as you celebrate Bastille Day. Eating frites is one way, but there are many other events and activities today and tomorrow. Today there's the Waiter's Race at Les Halles (and they have specials), there's music, can-can dancers and French food on sale at Chelsea Market, and tonight's Bastille Ball. Tomorrow has the big Bastille Day on 60th......

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week? Here’s the breakdown: Fox has Episode 6 of Hell's Kitchen on Monday at 9pm. Read the latest Entertainment Weekly episode wrapup here as well as a (slightly depressing) update on the previous two winners in the Post here. The Surreal Gourmet, Bob Blumer, returns to TV with a new show on the Food Network. Called Glutton for Punishment, it premieres this Tuesday at 9:30pm. Blumer participates in......

May 19: Taste of Tribeca It's time for the 13th annual Taste of Tribeca, with tasting plates from Tribeca restaurants including Chanterelle, Bouley, The Harrison, Tribeca Grill, Megu, Mai House and Blaue Gans. The proceeds will got to support arts and enrichment programs for the kids at Tribeca's public elementary schools, P.S. 234 and P.S. 150, who have illustrated the new “Taste of Tribeca Cookbook” ($15), which will be on sale at the event.......

The Manhattan DA's office announced that thirteen people were indicted in a identity theft scam. Credit card information from diners in Chinatown and other areas (Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Connecticut) would be stolen by wait staff, using handheld credit card skimmers. A list of restaurants where the scam took place was not released. One defendant, JD Kenny, would pay $35-50 per skimmed card information, and then use that information......

Bruni one-stars E.U., finds the restaurant with the tortured history "eclectic not only in terms of its national influences but also in the quality of different dishes." He loves some of the food, as well as the design and the wine list, but dislikes the desserts. Says "you're taking a chance every time you walk in." Also in the Times, in $25 and Under, Peter Meehan goes to Nomad for Algerian. He's crazy about the......

November 10 - 12: Ninth Annual Chocolate Show Time for a major sugar rush. Head over to the ninth annual Chocolate Show for chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate, with some culinary demonstrations and art thrown in for good measure. $25 tickets, for one day's admission, are available online (via Ticketmaster.com or calling 212-307-7171), and will also be on sale at the door (cash and checks only at the door). Metropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building, 125......

Some Citibank customers complained about strange puchases made on their credit cards. Metrocards. Gift cards at Bloomingdale's and McDonald's. Movie tickets. So Citibank reported the incident to the Manhattan DA's office, and then an investigation revealed a commonality: All customers had dined at Les Halles Downtown - and their server was Dennis Szyller. The NY Post reports that Szyller used a skimming device to copy information from his diners' credit cards and later ran up......

Recently disturbed to find ourselves in Times Square, we stopped into Tintol, a new Portugese tapas and wine bar and were pleasently surprised- the bar looks like it's trying to forget that it is in the gaudiest place in the world, too. From Jose de Meirelles, a former partner (and co-executive chef) at Les Halles, and owner of the kosher steakhouse across 46th Street, Marais, Tintol has a Portugese take on small plates and an......

Today's the day for Beaujolais. As we learned last year, Beaujolais Nouveau is a "light bodied, fruity, easy-to-drink red wine made from the Gamay grape" and it comes out every year on the third Thursday of November -- which is today, conveniently. Many, many wine shops are offering tastings. Visit LocalWineEvents.com to find a tasting in your neck of the woods tonight, this weekend, or sometime next week. From November 17th through the 20th, you......

November 10th: Vendy Awards The night you've been waiting for is finally here. Come support the Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center and taste the wares of the finalists you selected at the Vendy Awards. There will be an open bar of wine and beer, and the finalists will be selling their food (at their usual street-level prices) to guests in attendance. A team of esteemed judges will determine the winner. After the......

STOP what you're doing and program your TiVos or mark this down in your Outlook calendars or PDAs... Anthony Bourdain's new show, No Reservations, is premiering on the Travel Channel on Monday, July 25 at 10PM. Here is Bourdain's description of what the show is about:"It means that I just don't care what happens, you know, in the sense that there are things I want to do, there are things I want to see,......

July 3-4: Prix Fixe Menue at Barmarché They'll be donating a portion of the proceeds to City Harvest. Gotta love doing good while you eat. 14 Spring Street (at Elizabeth), call 212-219-2399 for reservations and more information. July 4: Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest Check out what is "believed to be the 90th installment" of this Fourth of July favorite at Coney Island watch four-time world champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan......

Even though it's June, on fall television show we're excited about is Kitchen Confidential, the Darren Starr spin on Gothamist favorite Anthony Bourdain's seminal "life of a working chef" book of the same name. Zap2It has an interview with Bradley Cooper, who will star as the Bourdainish character and explains the premise: "[My character] got addicted to cocaine and blew it all up my nose, lost everything. Now I'm a line cook at an Olive......

Following up on Ask Gothamist's advice on Christmas menus at city restaurants, Gothamist wants to share some of the delights of the Les Halles Christmas Dinner. Perhaps based on our serious obsession with Les Halles executive chef Anthony Bourdain, we were invited to try some of the Christmas menu, which has a delicious rosted goose (Oie aux Deux Façon, Côtes de Bettes à la Landaise) as a main course. However, we must admit, the......

Veritas Tender Braised Veal...

The lovely Ms. GirlyNYC is on a well-deserved vacation so the rest of the Gothamist Foodies are going to do our best to step in and keep you up on cookbooks while she's away. First, this week's Time Out New York does a great roundup of new NYC cookbooks, including Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook (reviewed by SFist), Serena, Food & Stories, by Serena Bass (subject of a recent cupcake column), and Cocktails in New......

C'est Bastille Day! We may not be in France, but it doesn't mean NYC can't find another excuse to celebrate. There are Bastille Festivities festivities happening downtown, from 12PM-9PM. The details from StarChefs are precious:...featuring music, entertainment such as Cancan dancers, portraiture, historic characters, Lady Liberty, a live DJ, the famous Bastille Races' and of course, food. Festival goers line the racecourse to cheer on the contestants, and enjoy the often-hilarious antics of these unique......

If you work in the Financial District, Gothamist suggests you check out the Downtown Alliance's Dine Around Downtown event, where you can try samples of food from restaurants like Capsuto Freres, Ciao Bella, Bouley and Danube, and Les Halles Downtown, for $3 to $5. The event will be held at Chase Manhattan Plaza (between Liberty & Pine and Nassau & William Streets), from 11AM-3PM. Here's a PDF of participants. [If it's raining, the event will......

Our favorite local BBQ mastermind, Adam Perry Lang of Daisy May's, is profiled today in the Times Dining section. Alex Witchel looks at his work not only at Daisy May's but also at Robert's Steakhouse, the delicious and well-received steak joint at the Penthouse Executive Club (read: club where executives are entertained by exotic dancers), perhaps the first meat market where you can eat meat, plus his culinary credentials gathered from NY (Daniel Boulud,......