This week in the Times, Bruni three-stars Le Cirque, bumping the restaurant's rating up from the two stars he awarded it in 2006. Executive chef Christophe Bellanca’s menu “nimbly straddles the line between predictable decadence… and creative flair,” he says. He also says that you’ll pay—a lot—for what you get, and that Le Cirque isn’t quite as reliable as other three star restaurants. In $25 and Under, ">Peter Meehan is at Soba Totto, where he......

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Lebanese Ilili, saying “Ilili is probably the atmospherically grandest excursion into Middle Eastern cooking that New York has ever seen.” While much of the menu is inconsistent, he loves the kebabs and kaftas. Says the service is “occasionally confused.” And get the essmalieh for dessert. In Dining Briefs, Peter Meehan goes to Abraço Espresso (pictured), says “it’s tiny, it brews excellent coffee, and the little food that it......

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Irving Mill (pictured). Says, “It’s a self-conscious heir to Gramercy Tavern…if only it performed that way.” He does like some of the food, and the wine list. “At Irving Mill’s finest moments, with its finest dishes, it’s decidedly more than pleasant,” he says. But the cooking is inconsistent, the menu sounds more flavorful than it tastes, the desserts are only so-so, and the space too big, says Bruni.......

This week in the Times, Bruni two-stars Allen & Delancey. Loves the atmosphere; says “the food at Allen & Delancey is at once sophisticated and accessible, reliant on fail-safe luxuries deployed in a modestly creative and occasionally playful manner.” Says that in some ways it’s similar to what he did uptown (at Gordon Ramsay at the London) but it works much better in this context. In $25 and Under, "> Peter Meehan goes to Food......

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Grayz, gives the restaurant one star. He says of the restaurant that refuses to call itself a restaurant (it’s a ‘cocktail lounge that serves small dishes’): “These dishes demand fuller attention than the setting allows, and the prices—$39 for the short ribs—only make total sense if eating is the point of a visit.” In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Belcourt, which he says is much better than......

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Sam Mason’s Tailor. Loves the design of the place, and—along with everyone else—the pork belly, the arctic char and the drinks. Overall? “[Mason’s] infatuation with his own imagination doesn’t leave room enough for a self-appraisal of the results… a duck-and-eel terrine in a chocolate consommé tastes like cat food splashed with Yoo-hoo.” Hee. In Dining Briefs, Bruni goes to Toloache. Calls the upscale Mexican restaurant a “welcome addition”......

When it comes to driving routes for a JFK airport pickup, George Costanza advocates taking the Grand Central to the Van Wyck, deriding Kramer’s L.I.E. route as a “suicide mission.” In the current New York Magazine cover story, “How to Escape Airport Hell”, the editors invited chauffeur Kevin Sullivan to weigh in. While he comes down squarely on Costanza’s side, he also shares some invaluable alternative routes to all three airports in the unlikely......

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to South Carolina. He’s also got an upcoming holiday special that features Queens of the Stone Age (wearing Christmas sweaters from QVC, no less). We can’t wait for that one. Read about it in ">Rolling Stone. On Top Chef, Episode 12 airs Wednesday at 10pm (Bravo). The guest judges are Sirio Maccioni and Andre Soltner. Grub Street......

Earlier this year when Gothamist visited executive chef Doug Psaltis at Geoffrey Zakarian’s Country, we learned that French Laundry vet Hsing Chen had just been named Executive Pastry Chef for the fine-dining restaurant upstairs, as well as for the downstairs, more casual Cafe. “My focus is more on light, fruit based desserts, with different textures and temperatures,” Chen told Gothamist. She also mentioned her desire to locate, soup up, and outfit a dessert cart from......

Adam Platt has started of 2007 with a bang -- New York magazine has released his "Where to Eat 2007" lists, a compendium of his picks for the year, divided into categories. "Haute Barnyard," a phrase that Platt coined a while back, is his term for restaurants focused on suppliers and the origins of the food, with countrified leanings. Cookshop, Peasant, Hearth, and Blue Hill qualify, among others. He takes us on two rambles, one......

Bruni three-stars the recently renovated Picholine. Though he doesnt much like the physical changes-"still too quiet and sadistically bright"-the renovation "reinvigorated this restaurants soul," he says. In fact, he now likes it so much he celebrated his recent birthday there. And the Eater oddsmakers nail it again. Theyre also all over the reopening of Waverly Inn (Graydon Carter edition). Also in the Times, Peter Meehan visits Italian restaurant Lunetta on Smith Street in Brooklyn for......

-Bruni's back with his take on Harry's Steak and Cafe, giving it one star. He seems to be happy with the steakhouse portion of the restaurant, but is much less impressed by Harry's Cafe, where, although it shares the same kitchen with Harry's Steak, "the menu metastasizes in ways that often turn out to be ill-advised." The Eater boys were on the mark this week. - A good friend of ours told us he didn't......

Bruni one-stars Trestle on Tenth, says the Swiss restaurant is where "homey joins hearty." He loves the wine list but finds the cuisine uneven, says its heaviness "challenges vain, health-conscious New Yorkers to wade into the starchy and dive headlong into the flabby." And Eater called it right this week, gave Trestle on Tenth even odds for one star. They predicted the special attention Bruni paid to the wine list, and point out that Adam......

Adam Platt takes a first stab at the new Le Cirque, awarding it two out of five stars in New York Magazine this week. He's certainly not wowed, but not thoroughly disappointed either. Some excerpts to whet your whistle: - On the space: "a great, polished, cruise ship of a restaurant" - On the crowd: "assorted aging contessas and paleo-billionaires dressed resplendently in their charcoal suits and pastel (occasionally pink) summer ties" - On......

Bruni no-stars Mr. Chow Tribeca. Calls most of the food "mediocre," and says, "Once you've visited Mr. Chow Tribeca, you will appreciate your favorite neighborhood Chinese takeout place like never before." Adam Platt wasn't much impressed, either. And after last week's misstep, the Eater oddsmakers are back on track and call it right. Also in the Times, Peter Meehan goes for the roasted half-pig at Daisy May's BBQ U.S.A., says "If you prefer not to......

Today in the Times, Frank Bruni gives Greek-Italian Dona two stars, says it reaches high and far--too high at times. As predicted by the oddsmakers at Eater. Elsewhere, Dona got three stars from New York magazine's Adam Platt, who said that the food is "always arresting, and often excellent," and had some love for female restauranteur Donatella Arpaia, who collaborates on Dona with chef Michael Psilakis. But according to another New York-er, Gael Greene, Psilakis......

- New York magazine's Adam Platt pans Craftsteak, says it's essentially a one-star steakhouse, but that the quality of the Craft franchise knocks it up to two. Faint praise. Calls the desserts "reruns" of pastry chef Karen DeMascos' creations at Craft. - Also in NY Mag, did Cipriani pull out of the $300 million project slated for Pier 57--in which the city was to be a partner--because of questions about past business practices? Specifically, an......

But not together (no need to start any wild rumors here). We heard yesterday that Mr. Bruni's review would be hitting today's Dining section. But what would he think? Would he lean towards Steve Cuozzo's take? Adam Platt's? Both of them seemed to think that although some of the food was predictably good, if not overpriced, the decor and sheer vastness of the place combined with some misses on the menu threw the whole......

What is it about stars that gets people so worked up? New Yorkers went ballistic over the stars doled out by the Michelin Guide (the Spotted Pig?!?), and the addition of one extra star from the New York Times can make all the difference when you're trying to get a reservation. And now, New York Mag has jumped on the star bandwagon, with Adam Platt dishing out stars to his 101 favorite restaurants in the......

Gothamist is interested in reading, Doormen, after reading the New Yorker Talk of the Town article about how this study of NYC doormen was conducted. Sociology professor Peter Bearman arrived at Columbia to find "his new colleagues unusually arrogant and difficult" and thought his doormen caused this (but he decided that was wrong). The book is subtitled "Fieldwork and Discoveries," and though a Publishers Weekly review says it's a little dry (perhaps as it's the......

Frank Bruni awarded four stars to Thomas Keller's Per Se in today's New York Times, noting that, although it certainly deserved the rating, It is not wondrous 100 percent of the time, and it can be maddening: at moments too intent on culinary adventure or too highfalutin in its presentation and descriptions of dishes, one of which came with a choice of four salts from three continents. To get a reservation may well require a......

The torrential rain almost put a damper on plans to go to the East Village's best new restaurant, The Mermaid Inn, last night, but luckily the rain subsided. We put our names on the list at 7PM and only waited 30 minutes for a table (they said 45 minutes, but ended up calling 15 later to offer a table in the garden, but with the weather so crazy, we decided to wait for an inside......