More Reasons for Ramsay to Worry; Could Use Some ‘Time Out’ LoveFrank Bruni wants to dislike Mai House but just can’t quite bring himself to do it. [NYT]
Meehan has no reason to like Pardo’s … so he doesn’t. [NYT]
Paul Adams tepid on Gordon Ramsay, citing his “great competence and little sparkle.” [NYS]
Alan Richman awards Ramsay one big “ouch”; he’s reminded of “the French-international cuisine that British chefs turn out whenever they ply their trade aboard cruise ships.” [Bloomberg]
Klee Brasserie apparently finds its way into Randall Lane’s heart, though thoughts like “it’s a bit of a mishmash, but a good mishmash” don’t fully convey the apparent chemistry they share. What with all the positive mini-reviews of Café Pierre, Guadalupe, and Benjamin Steak House, it’s a veritable lovefest over at Time Out. [TONY]
Brooklyn spot NoNO Kitchen charms Andrea Thompson, who rather drily observes that it’s “quite good, if not exactly phenomenal.” [NYer]
In the Magazine
Southern-Style Chicken, and Very Southern-Style ChickenIn this week’s Openings, Rob and Robin herald the appearance of two very different kinds of southern chicken restaurants: Pardo’s, the latest in the burgeoning genre of Peruvian rotisserie places, and Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen on Lenox Avenue, a new outpost of Harlem pan virtuoso Charles Gabriel’s mini-empire. (Rack & Soul is another; here’s our listing for the restaurant on 151st Street.) Both places trace their roots back to southern climes, and though we have yet to sample Pardo’s, no one who has ever trekked to Harlem to taste Charles’ pan-fried wonders has come back less than awed. (Also opening: Nespresso Boutique Bar, an espresso emporium owned a Nestlé subsidiary.)
Openings: Pardo’s, Nespresso Boutique Bar, Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen [NYM]