Results tagged “minettatavern”

If you follow along with this sort of thing, you'll know how earth shattering it is that outgoing Times dining critic Frank Bruni has bestowed three out of four precious stars on Keith McNally's casual-yet-elitist reboot of Minetta Tavern. That's a lot of stars for a place like this, especially considering Bruni's past ambivalence to the restaurateur, who famously accused Bruni of sexism after the critic gave his restaurant Morandi (which had a female chef) a tough review. Anyway, Bruni hearts McNally's Minetta, which he declares "the best steakhouse in the city." Meanwhile, the Post's Steve Cuozzo has some thoughts on Bruni's depature. (The take away's basically, Who cares, the Times is now a paper tiger.)

Today Frank Bruni at the Times bestows two out of four stars on the Upper West Side Fatty Crab (photos/menu), an impressive rating for a casual restaurant. But Bruni just can't get enough of "the Fatty spirit, the culinary equivalent of a stoner’s foggy contentment...Are its flavors in fact too big, too unrelenting? What qualifies as a bold deployment of chilies and aiolis, and what’s just indiscriminate overkill? Many a meal at Fatty Crab raises those questions and walks a fine line, but pretty much every time I began to doubt the kitchen’s care and skill, something came along to restore my belief."

This week Frank Bruni at the Times keeps his stars to himself and goes trendspotting, opining on four haute restaurants doing alternative, recession-minded menus. He raves about a couple dishes at Anthos Upstairs, located in "the second-floor room previously dedicated to large private parties — you know, those suddenly anachronistic events at which corporate generals larded their bonus-primed lieutenants," but has "better luck and a better time" at DFF, the re-appropriation of the private-party room adjacent to Craft, in the Flatiron district. "Semantically cuter but otherwise less appealing than DFF" is Halfsteak, where Bruni "got half service." And the à la carte Per Se lounge is "superb — and yet utterly ridiculous." GQ's Alan Richman also visits Per Se lounge twice, spending $454 on dinner for two, and is "unimpressed."

Minetta Tavern: Every food blogger and his brother is ecstatic about this old restaurant reopening under new management. Why? Because they use trivial dining news as a way to silence all the hungry demons in their heads. Kidding, it's because the place has a lot of history, being 72 years old and located in the romanticized Greenwich Village; and also because the new management in question is unpretentious big shot restaurateur Keith McNally, the man behind such winners as Balthazar and Pastis. If these photo spreads are to be believed, McNally has painstakingly restored the old doll to an almost ethereal level of amber-hued comfort, with an oak bar, red banquettes, and walls lined with black and white photos completing the atavistic scene. The menu is French bistro with a splash of Spanish, and you'll pay for it; cocktails are $14 (just a buck less than at gold standard Milk & Honey), and a burger costs $26. Those with expendable incomes are welcome for brunch, dinner until midnight, and a smaller "supper" menu until 2 a.m. 113 MacDougal Street at Minetta Lane, (212-475-3850)