The Other Critics

Sifton Enjoys Toloache; Cheshes Plays a Pizza Doubleheader

Toloache “looks terrible from the street,” admits Sam Sifton. “But nothing on Broadway is ever what it seems … [the restaurant] is worth a second look,” especially for its selection of guacamoles and seviches. [NYT]
Related: Taco-Loving Chef Julian Medina Celebrates His Birthday With Tequila

At Totale Pizza, Jay Cheshes finds that “an OCD focus on getting the details right is on extreme display … [the] purist specimens feature pliant, beautifully bubbled dough.” Meanwhile, Paulie Gee’s offers “some of New York’s most unusual combinations … mixed-media masterworks, gingerly layering disparate elements — sweet, savory, bitter, pungent — until the whole thing makes some sort of sense.” [TONY]

Annisa “offers that rare New York luxury: fancy food in a fancy setting at reasonable prices,” says Ryan Sutton. The restaurant serves “very good, often three-star food that belongs to the Jean-Georges school of almost-Asian.” [Bloomberg]
Related: Anita Lo Buys Out Partner at Annisa

Gael Greene visits 10 Downing under its new chef, where she enjoys the food — particularly the fried chicken, “crusty and bursting with flavor from its buttermilk bath” — but “prices strike me as aggressive for this uncertain moment.” [Insatiable Critic]

At Yee Kee H.K. Style in Brooklyn, Robert Sietsema finds a “particularly remarkable” dish, the “irresistibly named Farmer Special … Like a haystack, the platter was piled with toothpicks of fried taro, shredded garlic chives, slender Chinese celery, and assorted mushrooms, surmounted by a handful of fried lo mein.” At East Ocean Palace in Forest Hills, there’s “excellent dim sum.” [VV]

Sifton Enjoys Toloache; Cheshes Plays a Pizza Doubleheader