The Other Critics

Kefi Disappoints Bruni; Minetta Tavern Impresses Gael Greene

Frank Bruni is disappointed in what Michael Psilakis is serving at Kefi. “[A]t this restaurant, he too frequently goes overboard, in terms of what he throws at a dish and how much of it he tosses around. It’s messy, obvious cooking.” [NYT]
Related: Kefi’s Menu, Illustrated

Gael Greene never went to Minetta Tavern until Keith McNally set up shop, but she likes his version. “There’s pleasure in everything we’re eating,” she writes, and the scene “reminds me of historic moments in Manhattan night life.” [Insatiable Critic]
Related: Check Out Minetta Tavern’s Menu

Ryan Sutton deems himself “a snob” for being suspicious of the “ambitious pre-train restaurant” La Fonda Del Sol. He liked much of the food, but was disappointed in the disparity of offerings in the bar and the dining room. [Bloomberg]
Related: A First Look at La Fonda Del Sol

Jay Cheshes hits La Fonda Del Sol too, and also disliked the offerings at the bar. Chef Josh DeChellis “is on more solid footing when he embraces traditional Spanish cuisine,” but the food is more expensive than it should be. [TONY]

The tent tables and décor at Casa La Femme have worked their magic on Danyelle Freeman; though the menu is “a little uneven,” the hummus is “bland,” and the best thing on the menu is pita, the restaurant still gets three stars. [NYDN]

In Carroll Gardens, Andrea Thompson gets “a sense, at times, that Buttermilk Channel works awfully hard to appear effortlessly congenial.” That “feeling persists on the scattershot menu,” though “there’s much that is superb.” [NYer]
Related: A Closer Look at Buttermilk Channel

Buttermilk Channel “is a comfort-food place for sophisticated foodies, one that cashes in on locavoric attitudes, but isn’t afraid to go experimental,” says Robert Sietsema, who warns that the entrées are “most likely to falter.” [VV]

Everybody should go to Raoul’s, Alan Richman recommends, calling it “the kind of restaurant that couples go to Paris to find.” But whatever you do, don’t sit in “the so-called garden: Airless. Musty. Dreary.” [Forked/GQ]

Kefi Disappoints Bruni; Minetta Tavern Impresses Gael Greene