reviews

Looking for a hot new restaurant to go to for a birthday dinner, or a swanky downtown joint to grab dinner and drinks with friends? Search my reviews below, or email me if you can't find what you're looking for. Wanna get the low-down on the newest restaurants going up? Get the strong buzz. (Please note: You can freely link to my restaurant reviews, but republishing any part of them without written permission is expressly prohibited. For information and syndication details please email syndication@thestrongbuzz.com).

“Uovo-- CLOSED”
I love restaurants with chemistry—intimate little places that give off a tactile sense of warmth, intimacy, and excitement that almost gives you butterflies in anticipation of the evening and the meal to come. And I felt that energy when I ente ...
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Posted: August 21, 2005

“Perry Street”
Perry Street, Jean Georges Vongerichten’s latest restaurant is a marked departure from his lemongrass and ginger-tinged hipster playground known as Spice Market. Where Spice Market is dark, sexy, loud, fiercely ...
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Posted: August 14, 2005

“BLT Prime”
Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” filled the room as I entered BLT Prime the other night. The bar was about five deep, stocked with handsome men in suits throwing back vodkas on the rocks and assorted micro-brewed bee ...
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Posted: August 8, 2005

“La Esquina”
There are three parts to La Esquina, the new taqueria, café, and gothic, candle-strewn subterranean Mexican brasserie owned by a quartet of restaurant power-brokers: Serge Becker (the designer behind spots like Lure, Bowery Bar and Time Ca ...
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Posted: July 31, 2005

“Centrico”
There are some restaurants that just breed fun. They have a laid back vibe, an easiness that invites laughter, an energy that strips off the heaviness of your day. These places aren’t meant to be taken seriously—they want to make you ...
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Posted: July 24, 2005

“Mainland-- Closed”
It has happened. Brace yourselves. Chinese food has gone and grown up (or at least grown into the New York culinary spotlight). It is no longer the realm of 100-item take out menu ordered from on rainy nights, and by Jews all over the country on ...
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Posted: July 17, 2005

“Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO”
I was prepared to like Gusto even before I got there. I knew the chef, Jody Williams, from Tappo, a short-lived Mediterranean spot styled in the form of a Tuscan farmhouse, located in the space that is now Hearth. I had some great meals there. Se ...
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Posted: July 8, 2005

“Winebar”
There’s nothing new about the concept behind Winebar. The name says it all, and as such—a wine bar, New York City, circa 2005—you can expect wine—by the glass, bottle, and possibly quartino—and small plates crafted from ...
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Posted: June 26, 2005

“Park Blue”
Midtown has no shortage of spots to go for drinks after work—but most fall into the “martini-toting suits piled in shoulder to shoulder” category. Few offer a place where conversation can occur, where wine (good wine) can be pou ...
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Posted: June 19, 2005

“Ama”
There are several kinds of restaurant in New York City. There are those that serve great food, but miss the mark on service. Then there are those places that overflow with hospitality but that offer food that stumbles alon ...
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Posted: June 13, 2005