Ed Levine reviews

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - Irving Mill is divided into two sections, the bar area and the dining room. In the front of the restaurant there's an extremely comfortable bar, some tables in front of the bar, and, in pleasant weather, some outdoor tables. The dining room in the rear features lots of exposed beams, comfortable booths, and well-spaced separate tables. Think a poor man's Gramercy Tavern that takes itself a little less seriously. Although there's a chalkboard list of bar nibbles, they are by no means insubstantial throwaways. In fact, it's on this list that I found many of the Irving Mill dishes I plan on returning for on a regular basis.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - When you walk up a few steps and enter Despaña you leave New York and arrive in Spain, where you will find yourself in a gorgeously minimalist Spanish specialty food store. A leg of Jamon Iberico will be on your right, and past that gorgeous porcine ham you will find other cured meats, followed by a small but well-curated collection of Spanish cheeses. Dishes of samples beckon serious eaters like some Flamenco siren call...

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - By night Morimoto is a jumble of stylized images. When the dinner bell rings at six, impossibly thin and gorgeous men and women dressed in all black Armani convene to eat sushi, drink sake, and flaunt their stylish hipness at every opportunity…but at lunchtime, Morimoto becomes a relaxed, comfortable contemporary Japanese restaurant serving big plates of reasonably priced food made with top quality ingredients.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - You know that silly t-shirt, "Life is short, eat dessert first?" Well, last week I went to a restaurant, Square Meal, where the desserts were so good, I could have eaten them first, last, and in between, with no main course necessary...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - The Redhead founders decided to start slowly. Almost two years ago Meg Grace, who was cooking at the Museum of Modern Art, and her two young restaurateur partners, Rob Larcom and Gregg Nelson, took over the lease at a defunct jazz club and bar with the idea that they would eventually open a restaurant...Grace started cooking every Thursday night. People seemed to take a shine to Grace's regional American, Southern-influenced cooking, and then New York Times dining section editor Pete Wells wrote a positive in-brief review that contained a sirenlike line about biscuits good enough to be in a biscuit museum. Eighteen months later a full-blown restaurant was born.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - New York's food radar is so powerful I used to think it was impossible for any restaurant to fly under it. The food media (both old and new) contributes to this state of affairs, as does our obsession with discovering the latest bit of deliciousness to be had here. But every once in awhile, a restaurant like Papatzul opens, and somehow, some way, the food intelligentsia doesn't notice.