Everyone Should Have an Uncle Boons

[yum kai hua pli - benjamin petit for the times]Pete Wells awards a favorable two stars to Uncle Boons this week in a review that touches on more than half the dishes on offer at the new Nolita Thai hot spot. "The owners and chefs, Ann Redding and her husband, Matt Danzer, met while working as cooks at Per Se," informs Wells, "And the marks of Thomas Keller’s ballet academy are far more visible than you’d expect at a place that plays warbly Thai covers of “Another Brick in the Wall” and “Hang On, Sloopy.”

"The electricity kept cutting out, then flicking back on a few minutes later," Wells writes of a visit to Uncle Boons, but it took nothing away from the bright flavors coaxed out of the small kitchen by Redding and Danzer. Having written a particularly food-focused review, we thought we'd give you a break down of each dish the critic mentions. So if you need help deciding what to order when you go to Uncle Boons, and you should go to Uncle Boons, let this be your guide.

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Battersby Part Deux

Vinzee's Magic Fountain was open on Court Street for one year. The burger joint opened in May 2011, but in December that same year cut back to shorter "Winter hours," which left them open only Thursday to Sunday. Vinzee's called it quits after five months of shortened service. Rumors started to surface that Walker Stern and Joseph Ogrodnek, the brilliant chefs who've earned national acclaim at Battersby nearby on Smith Street, were interested in the space. One week ago from today, Stern and Ogrodnek were approved a liquor license from the Community Board – making the expansion rumors official.

We ran into the chefs on Court Street as we were heading to Vinzee's to get a picture for this post. Equipped with white T's and their morning coffee, Stern and Ogrodnek told us they're excited to expand in the neighborhood, are just starting to think about the menu, and hope for a fall opening.

Compared to the close quarters and bathroom-sized kitchen at Battersby, the former Vinzee's space, located at 412 Court Street (at First Place), is 2,800-square-feet and has an additional 600-square-feet of outdoor space. The new digs can also seat up to 75 guests, has a much larger kitchen, walk-ins, and an array of kitchen equipment.

Eat the Week; June 24th - June 28th

Root Hill Burger closes less than a year in - Brooklyn Brine Pickle Shack to move in | Pete Wells awards a solitary star to Carmellini's Lafayette | Donde Dinner? - 435 Halsey Street

Donde Dinner? - 435 Halsey Street

Donde Dinner? wants to make your next dining experience an adventure. So, every Friday, we pick a restaurant and post its address for you. The catch is, that's all the information you get. No name, no type of cuisine, and no Googling. But first, here's last week's address:

604 Union Street = Dinosaur Barbecue (because no one's a bigger fan than us)

This week's restaurant follows typical Donde Dinner? fashion. Price, quality, and accessibility have all been taken into account. You won't be waiting at the bar for two hours with $15 cocktails and you never have to worry about a dress code. Just hop on the train, or your feet, or your bike, and head to:

435 Halsey Street (map)

Two A's, Two T's, Two E's, One Star

One of the criteria for a New York Times restaurant review is the place in question has to have been open for three months. Theoretically, this allows the restaurant time to work out kinks and to see what works and what doesn't. Tweaks are generally made more easily at thirty-seaters versus restaurants with 150 seats that are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And while Lafayette opened on Monday, April 15th, the solitary star from Pete Wells this week was not due to inexperience.

Andrew Carmellini is a master in the kitchen. For proof, one need only venture to Locanda Verde in Tribeca or The Dutch in SoHo, where the chef displays his proficiency in Italian and American cooking, respectively. Having worked under Gary Kunz at Laspanisse and then for Daniel Boulud for six years, Lafayette is a return to Carmellini's French roots. It shows in (most of) the food, but the restaurant falls short in execution and service.

"Nobody seems to have helped the servers pronounce simple French words on the menu. Specials weren’t mentioned until I asked," Wells writes, "And a menu change (trout in place of dorade) wasn’t disclosed until I ordered it."

"As for the food," the critic writes, "There are salads and charcuterie and oysters and shoestring fries. Almost all of it is worthy, but very little seduces you. Lafayette wants you to fall in love with it, but it tries too hard in some ways and not hard enough in others."

Single star reviews are a surprise when they're attached to ambitious restaurants run by extremely talented, respected, and established chefs. But the less than favorable reviews won't keep people out of the restaurants. If anything, they serve as a ruler and leave the staff on the receiving end with sore knuckles. Service and/or food will be improved upon, the pain will subside, and people will continue to wake up hungry. [NYTimes]

Gowanus Goes from Burgers to Brine

We were surprised to see paper up and learn that Root Hill Burger closed on Sunday. The burger offshoot of popular Root Hill Cafe opened less than a year ago on 4th Avenue, around the time Gowanus welcomed Runner & Stone and The Pines, but a sign hanging in the front door reads: "We thank you for your wonderful response, but for a variety of reasons we have decided to close this location. Look for an exciting new concept in this space in late August."

The new concept is going to be called Brooklyn Brine Pickle Shack - an expansion of Brooklyn Brine, which opened around the corner in April last year. Founder Shamus Jones plans to serve pickles, sandwiches, and beer exclusively brewed by Dogfish Head in the former Root Hill Burger location at 256 Fourth Avenue. On the collaboration with Dogfish, Jones tells Park Slope Stoop, "We were so happy when Sam [Calagione, Dogfish Head founder] contacted us a year ago, and this is our love letter back to them. There’s no bar in New York City that serves only Dogfish. It was a no brainer.”

The team is shooting to open next month, and if beer and pickles aren't enough to lure you in, there's a huge backyard with bocce ball. [PSS]

Eat the Week; June 17th - June 21st

Isa vet Ignacio Mattos and former Blue Hill sommelier Thomas Carter open Estela on East Houston | Pete Wells awards Kajitsu two stars | After anticipating it for a year and a half, Dinosaur Barbecue opens in Brooklyn | Donde Dinner? - 604 Union Street

Donde Dinner? - 604 Union Street

Donde Dinner? wants to make your next dining experience an adventure. So, every Friday, we pick a restaurant and post its address for you. The catch is, that's all the information you get. No name, no type of cuisine, and no Googling. But first, here's last week's address:

144 East Broadway = Lam Zhou (menu)

This week's restaurant follows typical Donde Dinner? fashion. Price, quality, and accessibility have all been taken into account. You won't be waiting at the bar for two hours with $15 cocktails and you never have to worry about a dress code. Just hop on the train, or your feet, or your bike, and head to:

604 Union Street (map)