Today's review roundup includes: Spice Market, The Spotted Pig, Bianca, La Rosa & Son Pizzeria, Cube 63.
NYTimes Restaurants Amanda Hesser gives Spice Market three stars (403 West 13th Street; (212) 675-2322):
Since then, Mr. Vongerichten seems to have had an epiphany. He is not a club owner, but a sensualist. And at Spice Market, he has hit on something new: casual, exotic luxury and food that people want to eat.
That food is street food — a gastronomical genre that is regarded by some as the best in the world. Only here it is reworked and polished. Egg rolls stuffed with mushrooms gleam under Mr. Vongerichten's touch. Softened shiitake and oyster mushrooms are loosely swaddled in a wrapper that is fragile and crisp on the outside. A tangy herbal galangal sauce is whipped into a celadon foam. When you dip the egg rolls, the sauce clings in a light, loose layer. Vietnamese spring rolls stuffed with pork, mushroom and shrimp are more rigidly constructed, and are fried stiff. A waiter instructs you to wrap the roll in lettuce with fresh mint and coriander and to dip it in a sweet lime and rice vinegar broth. A succession of stimulating textures and vivid flavors — first the lettuce and herbs, then the crackle of the rolls, with their pillowy filling — flutter on your palate.
. . . It is easy to become overstimulated by all the flavors. No detail eludes Mr. Vongerichten's experimental mind. Even the ginger ale is homemade. An extract of ginger, sugar and lime is blended with club soda — a drink with perfect zip.
But the dish that explains why Spice Market is such an extraordinary pleasure is Thai jewels. Tiny bits of sweet water chestnut are glazed with tapioca, dyed candy colors like cherry red and lime green. These jewels are blended with palm seeds and slivers of jackfruit and papaya, then heaped onto a nest of coconut ice. It is fruity, nutty, cold and slushy, a wonderful mess of flavors, not unlike Lucky Charms. You won't forget it — and several other desserts are nearly as memorable.
NYPost Steve Cuozzo also reviews Spice Market:
Spice Market is supposedly "inspired" by Southeast Asian street snacks. Like most opening shticks, this should be taken with a highly aromatic grain of salt. I'd love to know the corner where folks stand around slurping acidic citrus soup combining tuna and tapioca pearls ($11).
Start with papadams and scintillating kasundi, an Indian spice-tomato jam good enough to put on blueberry muffins. Don't I know it from TanDa, where chef de cuisine Stanley Wong once cooked?
Near-drinkable short ribs crusted in chili and onion ($18) draw satisfied moans. Sweet, black pepper shrimp ($12) with cubed jicama, black bean sauce and lime juice make oven-roasted pineapple chunks superfluous.
"Every dish is served family style and as soon as it's ready," waitresses chirp. One plate at a time guarantees that gleaming, pristine cod ($18) on a bed of garlic, ginger, scallions and Thai basil disappears instantly.
But don't expect the refinement of Vong, Vongerichten's more focused take on French-Thai cooking. The place is counting on its party-animal clientele to laugh off inconsistency and illogical conception.
If that's not enough, NYPress also reviews Spice Market this week.
To summarize, Spice Market's sexy version of Asian street food = Good.
NYTimes $25 and Under Eric Asimov reviews The Spotted Pig (314 West 11th Street;(212) 620-0393):
But the Spotted Pig succeeds because it does not settle for star power. Instead, it relies on a winning confluence of casual yet imaginative food served in an easygoing, almost rustic atmosphere, where worn-velvet banquettes are strewn with pillows and pig paraphernalia adorn the walls. Music is loud but not too loud, a good match for the exuberance of the patrons.
On my first visit, I liked the look and feel of the place, which was previously Le Zoo. But the food — even seemingly lusty preparations like shepherd's pie ($17), pork sausage with polenta ($15) and slow-braised beef shin with escarole ($18) — was timidly seasoned. I could not figure out what made a nothing-fancy plate of roasted cauliflower and Jerusalem artichoke with braised Swiss chard worth more, at $10, than any other appetizer but raw oysters.
Though puzzled, I kept returning, and the food kept getting better. I think back now on River Cafe-style preparations, like sensational slices of grilled lamb ($18) painted with salsa verde, a sort of pesto that gives the meat a lively jolt, and gnudi ($10), feathery light gnocchi made with sheep's milk ricotta, requiring no more than a little melted butter and Parmesan, accented with pungent crisp sage leaves. Sautéed veal kidneys ($18), a pub classic, have a tender, lovely texture and just the right husky flavor.
Ms. Bloomfield's menu is ever-changing. The gnudi are often absent, but she may offer other pastas as appetizers, like orecchiette ($9) in an exceptional sauce of crumbled spicy sausage, tomato and broccoli rabe. Dishes appear and then disappear, like ricotta-stuffed tortelloni ($9), intricately twisted like Sichuan dumplings and served in a lemony cream sauce with pine nuts, or a beautiful combination of sautéed sweetbreads, bitter greens and pancetta ($10), or squid stew with a sharp aioli ($9).
Village Voice Robert Sietsema reviews Bianca (5 Bleecker Street; 212-260-4666):
Bianca is the daughter of Celeste, an Upper West Side matron I went apeshit over 18 months ago. Weird, I thought, that the Upper West Side, once completely devoid of food with any style, has now started exporting its restaurants to the East Village. Is it a sign of the apocalypse? Like her mother's, Bianca's bill of fare originates in Emilia Romagna. The signature dish shines like a beacon at the top of the menu: the puffy, pillow-shaped fritters known as gnocco ($8.50), served with either cured meats or a truffle-oil-sluiced stracchino ("tired") cheese, made from the evening milk of northern Italy's exhausted cows after they've dragged their asses down the mountain following a day of foraging. Go the route of meats, and you'll be delivered a platter containing a few slices each of prosciutto, coppa, mortadella, and, best of all, an irregular salami that I didn't recognize as being from around here. You wouldn't think light, warm fritters would go with damp, cool meats, but they do, providing the perfect counterpoint.
Though you might not associate deep-frying with Italian food, this preparation technique is especially popular in Emilia Romagna, and several choices reflect this. While there's no fried chicken, the seafood frito misto ($14.50) is one of the best entrées, a tumble of crisp shrimp, squid, and red mullet fillet atop a bonus haystack of shredded zucchini and eggplant strips, enough fried stuff for two to share. An even better seafood assortment comes with tagliolini ai frutti di mare ($11.50), a tangle of pasta ribbons ringed with clams and mussels and flinging off clouds of fragrant maritime steam. Still, the best pasta is not the one most often associated with the region, tagliatelle alla Bolognese. Rather, it's gramigna ($9.50), a pierced pasta like elbow macaroni, only longer and curlier, cooked al dente and deliciously sauced with crumbled fennel sausage and strips of ripe bell pepper.
Citysearch recommends La Rosa & Son Pizzeria (98 Smith Street, Brooklyn; 718-935-0545):
Start with the rice balls, a dense concoction of peas, pancetta and stewed tomatoes. Then order a few of the signature pizzas. Fresh toppings and basil-kissed sauce hold court on a medium-thick, flavorful crust, but stick with simpler pies, as some of the more interesting toppings, such as white truffle oil, can easily overwhelm all other flavors. And only really serious garlic-lovers should dare order the baked cheese ravioli: They don't make a strong enough breath mint to counter its aftertaste.
Citysearch recommends Cube 63 (63 Clinton Street; 212-228-6751):
The cheap-chic menu is a notch above most neighborhood sushi joints. There are the usual suspects--sinus-clearing wasabi shumai, big bowls of chewy soba in fragrant fish stock--as well as surprising starters, which range from simply great, thimble-sized molds of steamed spinach with peanut-sesame sauce to simply fun fried shrimp cocktail with melon balls in a sundae glass. The $20 sushi and sashimi combos are a steal and arrive with thoughtful touches, such as lime slivers tucked beside mackerel to cut its inherent fishiness. Whimsical rolls, like the spicy tuna "Bahama Mama" with avocado and crunchy peppers, are satisfying but small.