The typical New York diner (to say nothing of the typical New York reader) will generally get around to all the major food groups in the course of a week. There is the fish group, represented this week by Adam Platt’s one-star review of Wild Salmon, and the southern Italian sea bounty of Bar Stuzzichini, Rob and Robin’s lead opening. The meat group is well served by Prime Burger, the Insatiable Critic assures. The vegetable tribe appears courtesy of Mark Ladner’s spring-onion flan in In Season. Finally, after all this eating, all most of us would want is a bed to lie down in, and Rob and Robin provide some tips for that as well.
• Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow went on the warpath the last time Platt reviewed one of his restaurants, the ill-starred (or rather non-starred) Kobe Club. Now Chodorow has a new offering, and Platt finds enough to like about it to give it a much-awaited single star.
• Going in cold to a wine store and trying to sort out the endlessly complicated language of flavor and vintage has paralyzed us all at one time or another. But a wine expert named Gary Vaynerchuk can sort it all out for you.
• This week brings the city three new eateries. There’s the aforementioned Bar Stuzzichini, owned by a memoirist and former Studio 54 doorman; Bodeguita Cubana in the East Village, a Cuban companion to Avenue C’s Cafecito; and Cecel Crepe Cafe, a fusion crêpe café in the same lucky neighborhood.
• Sure, it’s just the Old Homestead’s sidewalk café, rechristened as Prime Burger Café. But from Gael Greene’s review, the burgers sound no less exciting for having a century of history behind them.
• Green onions are big right now, but how many chefs would think to make them into a flan? At least one: Mark Ladner of Del Posto, who gives the recipe in this week’s In Season.
• And though B.E.D. has closed forever, at least three places remain where you can take your meals without the bother of sitting up.
Salmon Cured
Does Your Wine Taste Like Stinky Socks Dipped in Cheese?
Restaurant Openings: Bar Stuzzichini, Bodeguita Cubana, and Cecel Crepe Cafe
The Insatiable Critic: Prime Burger Café
In Season: Spring Onions
Short List: The Hasselhoff Maneuver [NYM]
